Lab Members

dr hab. Elżbieta Megiel, prof. ucz. (PhD, DSc, associate professor)

Elżbieta Megiel received her MSc degree at the University of Warsaw Faculty of Chemistry in 1994 under the supervision of prof. Teresa Kasprzyckiej-Guttman, thesis entitled: „The enthalpies of mixing for binary systems pyridine base + o-xylene”. Further, she continued research on the thermodynamics of non-electrolytes and started studies on applying theoretical approaches (quantum-mechanical calculations and molecular dynamic simulations) for analyzing intermolecular interactions. PhD thesis presented results of this research she defended in 1999. Later, the investigation of Dr Megiel was focused on various aspects of polymer chemistry, both theoretical and experimental, including mechanisms of radical polymerization and new techniques allowing to obtain narrow-dispersive macromolecules. Her scientific interests were also stable nitroxyl radicals and their application in polymer chemistry, nanotechnology, and spectroscopy.
Dr Megiel completed her habilitation entitled “Nitroxides in the preparation of functional nanomaterials” in 2018; three years later, she obtained the position of associate professor at the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Chemistry.

mgr Swathy Krishna Reghukumar (MSc)

Swathy graduated in Pharmacy and Pharmacology from JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (Mysore, India). Her scientific interests focus on nanotechnology with particular emphasis on research in the field of nanomedicine. In the current project, under the supervision of Prof. Elżbieta Megiel from University in Warsaw and Prof. Iwona Inkielewicz-Stępniak from Medical University of Gdansk, she is focusing on assessing the role of noble metal nanoparticles as drug carriers that can potentially be used in in breast cancer therapy. She studies the selective cytotoxic properties of nanoparticles against breast cancer cells as well as the synergistic effects of nanoparticles and chemotherapeutics.

inż. Sylwia Jopa (Eng.)

Medicinal Chemistry (MSc student)

Sylwia began her engineering studies in the field of Advanced Instrumental Methods and Measurement Techniques at the UW Faculty of Chemistry in 2018. She joined our research group in 2022. She received an engineering degree on 2021 for her research on inclusion complexes of polycyclic aromatic compounds with cyclodextrins, which was awarded the departmental Antoni Grabowski Prize on 2022. She completed this work under the supervision of Dr. Michal Nowakowski in the Laboratory of Spectroscopy and Intermolecular Interactions. In addition, Sylwia is working in research on para-hydrogen hyperpolarization at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Tomasz Ratajczyk. Currently, she has started working on her master's degree in our laboratory, dedicating herself to the study of relaxation times in bifunctional contrasts based on ferrite nanoparticles doped with zinc and manganese ions and modified with permanent radicals.

inż. Kinga Wasiluk (Eng.)

Medicinal Chemistry (MSc student)

Kinga started studying Medical Chemistry (Eng. studies) at our faculty in 2018. She joined our research group in 2021. Her research focuses on biocompatible nanomaterials for medical purposes. In 2022 Kinga received her Engineer's degree working on the synthesis of gold nanoparticles conjugates with immunosupresive drugs, under the supervision of prof. Elżbieta Megiel and dr Karol Steckiewicz. Later on in 2022 she started working on her MSc degree, continuing the subject of gold nanoparticles conjugates in collaboration with Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny.

inż. Gabriela Kopacka (Eng.)

Medicinal Chemistry (MSc student)

Gabriela started studying Medical Chemistry (Eng. student) at our faculty in 2018. She joined our research group in 2021. In 2022 Gabriela received her Engineer's degree working on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles conjugates with immunosupresive drugs. In her current project she is focusing on synthesis of core–shell magnetite–gold nanoparticles.

lic. Ewelina Kuc (BSc)

Chemistry (MSc student)

Ewelina was born in Chorzów, Poland in 1999. She started studying Chemistry (BSc student) at our faculty at 2018. She joined our research group in 2021. She received an BSc degree on 2022. The title of her BSc thesis is: "Gold nanoparticles stabilized with copolymer PLA-b-PNIPAM - synthesis and physicochemical characterization". In her current project she is focusing on synthesis of biodegradable and thermo-responsive block copolymers with disulfide bond as ligands for stabilization gold nanoparticles.

Aleksandra Kopyt

Nanostructure Engineering (BSc student)