Our team. Polonez BIS 2 Taisiia Yurchuk project

Our Team

Principal Investigator

Dr. Taisiia Yurchuk

Dr. Taisiia Yurchuk is a POLONEZ BIS fellow funded by National Science Centre (NCN), Poland, and co-founded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant. She is employed at the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn. Dr. Yurchuk has been heading the laboratory for cryopreservation of gametes and embryos in the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the NAS of Ukraine since 2017. She received her Ph.D in Cryobiology from the Institute in 2016. She has completed a Master’s from the Karazin Kharkiv National University. Her research interests focus on cryopreservation of oocytes, sperm and embryos of human and animals, fertility preservation and in vitro maturation methods.

orcid.org/0000-0002-4993-9129

Prof. Dariusz Jan SKARZYNSKI (DVM, Ph.D, Dr.Sci)

Project Mentor

Dariusz J. SKARZYNSKI (DVM, Ph.D, Dr.Sci) is a Head of Department of Reproductive Immunology and Pathology, IAR&FR PAS in Olsztyn, Poland and Professor of Department of Reproduction with Large Animal Clinic of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UE&LSci in Wrocław, Poland. His research area is immunology and pathology of reproduction in domestic animals, especially immuno-endocrine, cellular and molecular regulations of the estrus cycle and pregnancy and pathogenesis of uterine disorders in cows and mares. Current research include: (1) Immuno-endocrine, cellular and molecular regulations of the release and action of cytokines and arachidonic acid metabolites in the female reproductive tract; (2) Immuno-endocrine mechanisms controlling embryo-maternal interactions; (3) Regulation of proliferation, angiogenesis and cell death mechanisms in the female reproductive tract; (4) Pathogenesis of endometritis and endometrial fibrosis in mares and cows; (5) Experimental models for the study of embryo-maternal interactions and early embryo mortality in human and animals.
He carried out research as visiting fellow/professor at: 1) Okayama University, Japan (postdoctoral fellow of the JSPS; 1997-1999, visiting professor, 2003-2013, in total 46 months); 2) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University in Lisbon, Portugal (visiting professor, 2008-present); 3) Interdepartmental Centre for Studies on Biology of Reproduction, University of Siena, Siena, Italy (visiting professor, 2012-2018); 4) Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel (visiting professor, 2013). He was a member of the Council of the National Centre for Research and Development (the head of Commission for special objectives of NCR&B, 2010 -2014), and the coordinator at IRZBZ PAN in Olsztyn the project "Healthy Animal - Safe Food" within the National Scientific Lead Center (KNOW) in the field of veterinary science (2015-2019). Member of the grants evaluation panels in Poland (NCN), USA, Italy, Israel, Germany, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Currently he is the member of the National Ethic Comity (2020-present).

orcid.org/0000-0001-9537-3560

Co-Investigator

Karolina Łukasik, M.Sc

Karolina Lukasik is a biotechnologist and work as a research and technical specialist in the Department of Reproductive Immunology and Pathology, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland. Is mainly engaged in research on immuno-endocrine and molecular mechanisms involved in estrous cycle, pregnancy and birth regulation in farm animals. She has almost twenty years of experience in working with cell cultures and molecular biology analyses and was involved in the implementation of more than ten scientific projects.

orcid.org/0000-0003-2476-8818

Agnieszka Bacławska, M.Sc.

Co-Investigator

Agnieszka Baclawska is an M.Sc. in zootechnics and has been working as a technical specialist at the Department of Immunology and Reproductive Pathology of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn since 2016. She is mainly engaged in research on reproductive pathology, including the elucidation of the causes of early embryonic mortality in farm animals. On a daily basis, she works with in vitro cultures, performs immunodiagnostics and molecular biology analyses.

orcid.org/0009-0004-4400-2996

Co-Investigator

Dr. Paweł Likszo

Dr. Pawel Likszo is currently employed as research-technical specialist at Department of Reproductive Immunology and Pathology in the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland. He received his PhD degree in 2023 from the IAR&FR PAS. Thesis title is “Analysis of changes in the luteal proteome during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy in the domestic pig”. Dr. Likszo is an author of several papers published in the pre-reviewed international journals, participated in many conferences organized by the societies for reproductive biology and was a manager of NCN international project. His scientific interests concern the use of mass spectrometry-based proteomic methods in understanding of female reproduction system function, mainly the ovarian follicle and corpus luteum development.

orcid.org/0000-0003-2618-9625

Beneficiary Institution

Established in 1988, the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn holds the prestigious status of a Leading National Science Centre (pol. KNOW) „Healthy animal – safe food”, and the highest in Poland A+ category awarded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Furthermore, Institute is a member of a prestigious pan-European EIT-Food Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) that aims to build sustainable end-to-end food supply chains realized through transformative innovation and education initiatives, with a central role for the consumer. Another equally important research direction of the institute is aimed at studying the problems of infertility in animals and humans, as well as maintaining their fertility. Institute runs a wide scientific cooperation through partnerships established with world-renowned research centres, stimulation of joint projects, twinning agreements, organization of international conferences and participation in EU-wide actions.

OOpreservation