International research collaboration
Filip Stefaniak, a Senior Researcher in the Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Protein Engineering at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB), recently undertook a research stay in Kathryn Ball’s lab at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer.
The visit was organised as part of the study visit programme of the RACE (RNA and cell biology – from fundamental research to therapies) project.
Filip is involved in the development of novel small-molecule inhibitors of interferon stimulated proteins, which play a key role in chronic inflammatory diseases, antiviral responses, type 1 diabetes and cancer.
The collaboration combined his expertise in bioinformatics, data analysis and machine learning with the biological knowledge of his host laboratory. The outcome of this research could be the first-in-class inhibitors of these enzymes — a significant milestone on the path toward new therapeutic drugs.
A second project was conducted in collaboration with Douglas R. Houston, Senior Lecturer in Computational Biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh, and focused on a computational method for synthesis-informed molecular docking. This innovative approach is designed to facilitate the de novo design of ligands and support the development of new drug candidates.
In his free time, Filip enjoyed exploring the city and its surroundings, including hiking in the Pentland Hills and walking along the coastline, despite Scotland’s famously changeable weather.
Read more about the RACE project.
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