Michał Jan Markuszewski – scientist, academic teacher, pharmacist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences. From 2012 to 2016, he served as vice-dean, and from 2016 to 2020, as dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Medical University of Gdańsk. Appointed the vice-rector for research for the 2020-2024 term.

He graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Medical Academy of Gdańsk in 1995. He received his PhD in 2000, based on his dissertation (supervised by Prof. Roman Kaliszan). He obtained his habilitation degree in 2007 based on his scientific achievements and a project entitled ‘Metabolomics: Metabolomic Analyses Based on Capillary Electrophoresis.’ In 2017, he was awarded the title of professor of pharmaceutical sciences.

Associated with his alma mater throughout his professional career – initially as a technical employee employed through a grant, and later successively as an assistant, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor at the Division of Biopharmacy and Pharmacodynamics. From 2008 to 2012, he headed the Department of Toxicology at the L. Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, part of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. In 2013, he completed postgraduate studies in Research Project Management at the Maritime University in Gdynia. From 2012 to 2016, he served as the head of doctoral studies at the Faculty of Pharmacy. He was the Deputy Chair of the Council of Deans of Faculties of Pharmacy at KRAUM during the 2016-2020 term.

In 1996, he completed two three-month scientific internships at prestigious European research centres – at the University of Bremen as part of the TEMPUS programme and at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, as part of bilateral cooperation between Poland and the Netherlands. From 2000 to 2002, he participated in a postdoctoral research internship at the Himeji Institute of Technology (now University of Hyogo) in Japan, funded by JSPS, as a member of Prof. Shigeru Terabe’s team.

He is the supervisor of seven completed PhD dissertations and three ongoing ones. He was the Chair of the Board of the Polish Metabolomics Society in the years 2017-2021. Furthermore, he has led or coordinated numerous grants, including the ones involving international collaborations. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including those from the Minister of Health and the Minister of Science and Higher Education, as well as the Prof. A. Waksmundzki Medal. He authored and co-authored over 130 publications in international journals (h-index = 29).

His main scientific interests include metabolomics, bioanalytics, including the application of advanced separation techniques in clinical and environmental analyses, pharmacokinetics, and biopharmacy.

Aleksandra Edyta Gaworska-Krzemińska – professor of medical and health sciences. She served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 2004 to 2006 and as vice-dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences from 2006 to 2012 and 2016 to 2024. Currently, she is the head of the Division of Nursing Management and the director of the Institute of Nursing and Midwifery.

She graduated in Nursing from the Medical University of Poznań in 1995 and completed postgraduate studies in hospital management at the Jagiellonian University, biostatistics at the Jagiellonian University, pedagogy at the University of Gdańsk, and numerous other postgraduate courses and trainings in Poland and abroad. She obtained her Ph.D. in medical sciences in 2003, habilitation in health sciences in 2014, and the title of professor in medical and health sciences in 2023.

She was a scholarship holder of the EU and the Hope Project in health management in Sweden, England, Germany, and Hungary. She completed internships in the USA, the Netherlands, and Germany. She represented Polish nursing in the International Council of Nursing (ICN), the European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations and WHO (EFNNMA/WHO), and the Workgroup of European Nurse Researchers (WENR). She served as the vice-president of the Polish Nursing Association and Chair of its Scientific Council. Furthermore, she was the initiator and co-creator of the introduction of prescription rights for nurses and midwives in Poland, as well as the ICNP terminology. She also served as a provincial consultant in nursing and was repeatedly appointed by the Minister of Health to expert teams creating, among others, educational standards. Currently, she is the vice-chair of the National Accreditation Council of SZPiP. She is the author and co-author of over 200 articles and editor of books and chapters in academic textbooks. Her main scientific interests focus on the proper organisation of work and the impact of the work environment on the health and social functioning of medical personnel, particularly disorders resulting from shift work.

She has received numerous awards and honours, including two individual awards from the Ministry of Health for her contribution and commitment to scientific, organizational, and teaching activities for Medical Academy in Gdańsk in 2006, as well as for her contribution to teaching activities, including her involvement in advisory teams of the Ministry of Health in 2023, the Bronze and Silver Cross of Merit, the Medal of the National Education Commission, and recognition from the Pomeranian Voivode for her work as a provincial consultant.

Michał Hoffmann – a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University of Gdańsk (currently the Medical University of Gdańsk). He is a specialist in internal medicine, cardiology, diabetology, and angiology. Since 2018, he has served as the head of the Hypertension and Diabetology Clinic at the University Clinical Center (UCC) in Gdańsk, where he has been affiliated since his studies.

As a clinician, he focuses on the comprehensive diagnosis of hypertension, particularly secondary hypertension, the diagnosis and treatment of vascular complications of diabetes, and the treatment of obesity.

His scientific interests mainly revolve around the molecular basis of cardiovascular diseases and obstructive sleep apnea. Part of his scientific work was conducted at the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. He was a recipient of the National Sleep Foundation’s Pickwick Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant. He participated in international research projects on the genetics of cardiovascular diseases (Hypergenes and InGenious projects) and was a co-author and coordinator of the international CARENORTH project, which received funding from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

He completed postgraduate MBA studies in healthcare management at Łazarski University/Medical University of Gdańsk.

For his dedication during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit and the honorary badge For Meritorious Service to Health.

Agnieszka Zimmermann – Vice-rector for the quality of teaching in the years 2022-2024, vice-dean for the quality of teaching and student internships at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Head of the Division of Medical and Pharmacy Law at the Medical University of Gdańsk.

Coordinator of the team which developed the Recommendations of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Medical Universities (KRAUM) on medical education which were officially adopted and announced by KRAUM in 2023.

A graduate of pharmacy at the Medical University of Gdańsk (currently the Medical University of Gdańsk) in 1998 and law at the University of Gdańsk in 2000. Initiator of the Centre to Support Excellence in Teaching at the MUG, which was established in 2023 with the funds of the ‘Didactic excellence of the University’ project. Promoter of the development of evidence-based medical education. Scientific co-editor of the ‘Modern medical education. Implementation of innovation at the Medical University of Gdańsk’ study.

Since 2020, she has been the vice president of the Polish Pharmaceutical Society (established in 1947). Since 2012, she has been the president of the National Section of Pharmaceutical Law of the Polish Pharmaceutical Society.

She specialises in pharmaceutical and medical law. She was the deputy chairman of the ministerial team for the development of the ‘Act on the profession of pharmacist’ (Journal of Laws of the Ministry of Health of 2017, item 106) and coordinated conceptual and normative work on the drafting of the legal act. The Act came into force in April 2021, introducing many pioneering solutions for the profession of pharmacist. Member of the ministerial team for the pilot implementation of pharmaceutical care (Journal of Laws of the Ministry of Health of 2017, item 107).

Her research interests primarily explore the legal conditions governing the functioning of the drug distribution and reimbursement system, as well as the autonomy of medical professions in the context of pharmacotherapy safety and patient safety. In 2013, she founded the first Student Scientific Circle of Pharmaceutical Law at a medical university.

She was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit (2023) and the Gold Badge of Merit for the Polish Diabetes Association (2005).

Anna Żaczek – vice-rector for development and cooperation (from 2024), vice-dean for development and internationalisation at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology (2020-2024). Head of the Department of Translational Oncology at the MUG, and acting director of the Institute of Medical Biotechnology and Experimental Oncology at the MUG.

Graduate of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology (2000) and the Molecular Medicine Ph.D. programme in Warsaw (2004). She obtained her Ph.D. in biological sciences (2004), habilitation in medical sciences (2014), and was awarded the title of professor in medical sciences and health sciences (2021).

Author of over 100 scientific papers and reports, with a total Impact Factor of over 335; Hirsch index of 26. She is a reviewer for journals on the Philadelphia list and the supervisor of 12 Ph.D. dissertations, including 7 completed. Mentor in the TOP Minds programme of the Top 500 Innovators Association, Polish-American Fulbright Commission (2018, 2021) and Girls Go Start-up! Academy (2018). Her main scientific interests include the biology and molecular diagnostics of cancer, particularly in the context of liquid biopsies and the detection of circulating tumour cells.

Principal investigator of 10 externally funded projects with a total budget of over 11 million PLN, and participant in another 10 projects funded by NCN, NCBiR, MNiSW, FNP, NAWA, and ABM. In 2013 she completed an internship at Stanford University as part of the TOP500 Innovators programme, launched by Ministry of Science and Higher Education (now Ministry of Education and Science), focused on research management models used in Silicon Valley. She also took part in a one-year Bioinnovation fellowship programme (StarShip) by EIT Health in 2017, focused on creating new, innovative biomedical products and services. Furthermore, she participated in the PACTT-Pfizer Effective Collaboration Academy (2021). Recently, she graduated with distinction from the two-year Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programme at the University of Gdańsk (2021-2023).

Michał Żmijewski was born in Gdańsk where he earned his Master’s degree in molecular biology in 1997 and later his Ph.D. in biology in 2003 from the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, Geography, and Oceanology at the University of Gdańsk. After completing his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, USA (2004-2008), he obtained his habilitation in biochemistry from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw in 2010. In 2016, he was awarded the title of professor of medical sciences. Since 2010, he has been affiliated with the Department of Histology at the Medical University of Gdańsk, and in 2023, he assumed the role of Head of the Department.

His main areas of expertise include skin endocrinology, cancer cell biology, biochemistry, cellular signalling, molecular biology, population studies, and drug research. He is the author of 117 scientific articles, 9 book chapters, 2 patents, and over 120 conference abstracts. His total Impact Factor (IF) exceeds 450, with more than 7,600 citations and a Hirsch index of 45.

Prof. Żmijewski served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 2012 to 2020 and has been a member of the Senate of the Medical University of Gdańsk since 2020 (currently serving his second term). He was also a member of the University Committee for Quality Assurance in Medical Education from 2017 to 2020, and between 2019 and 2022, he participated in the activities of the Science Evaluation Commission.

From 2011 to 2015, he was a member of the Cytobiology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Polish Society of Histochemists and Cytochemists, where he served as vice-president from 2016 to 2022 and as a member of the Main Board. Prof. Żmijewski has been actively involved in various scientific societies, including the Polish Biochemical Society (2002-2004 and since 2010), the European Society for Dermatological Research (since 2011), the PanAmerican Society for Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR; 2006-2009), the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA, USA; 2007-2009), the Endocrinology Society (ENDO, USA; 2008), the University of Tennessee Postdoctoral Association (organiser, treasurer, vice-president 2007-2008), and the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID; 2006-2008).

Prof. Żmijewski has been repeatedly honoured with rector’s awards for his scientific, teaching, and organisational contributions. He has also received the Bronze Cross of Merit in 2016 and the Gold Cross of Merit in 2020.

Magdalena Prokopowicz – academic teacher, professor of medical and health sciences in the discipline of pharmaceutical sciences, served as vice-dean for education at the Faculty of Pharmacy from 2020 to 2024.

She earned her Master of Science in Biotechnology in 1994 at the Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology. In 1995, she began her doctoral studies at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at Gdańsk University of Technology under the supervision of the late Prof. Jacek Namieśnik, honorary doctor of the Medical University of Gdańsk. She defended her doctoral dissertation entitled Gaseous Standard Mixtures Prepared Based on the Thermal Decomposition of Surface Compounds with distinction in 1999, receiving her Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences. One of the most significant scientific achievements during this research period was obtaining a patent titled Mass for Preparing a Liquid Standard Mixture, Especially for Calibrating Analytical Instruments, No. 194181, B1 (31/05/2007) (Gdańsk University of Technology).

In 1999, she began working at the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Medical Academy in Gdańsk, initially as an assistant and later as an assistant professor until 2021. In 2012, she obtained her habilitation in pharmaceutical sciences based on her scientific achievement titled “Preparation and Physicochemical Characterization of Silica Xerogels as Solid Carriers of Doxorubicin Hydrochloride – an Anticancer Substance.” She continued her scientific research on the application of the sol-gel method for obtaining bioactive silica gel composites with medicinal substances, with potential use as implants for disease-altered bone tissue.

She was the principal investigator and scientific supervisor of seven projects funded from external sources (KBN, NCN). As part of international collaboration with researchers from the SFI Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals at the University of Limerick (Ireland), she undertook a scientific internship at the University of Limerick as a visiting scientist. In 2020, she obtained a patent entitled Pharmaceutical Composition for Bone Tissue Implantation, Method for its Preparation, and Application for Manufacturing an Implant for Use in Bone Tissue Treatment,” No. 241688 (29/05/2020) (Medical University of Gdańsk).

On 1st December 2021, she was appointed an associate professor. From 3rd February 2023, she officially holds the title of a professor of medical and health sciences in the discipline of pharmaceutical sciences. She has supervised three completed doctoral dissertations and participated in implementing changes in study programmes in accordance with new educational standards, working in the University’s Quality Assurance System team led by vice-rector Prof. A. Zimmermann. She is a member of the Polish Pharmaceutical Society and the Gdańsk Scientific Society.

For her scientific, educational, and organisational activities, she has received numerous rector’s awards.

Maria Bieniaszewska is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University of Gdańsk, a physician specialising in internal medicine, haematology, and clinical transplantation. She co-founded the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation centre in Gdańsk and serves as the coordinator of the transplantation programme at the Department of Haematology and Transplantology and the head of the Tissue and Cell Bank.

From 2020 to 2024, she served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine. She represented the Conference of Rectors of Academic Medical Schools (KRAUM) in the ministerial team which developed the revised standards for medical education, published in the 2023 ordinance of the Minister of National Education. She introduced the first standardised exam (OSCE) in internal medicine at the University, which is the subject she continues to teach in 2023.

Her primary clinical and research interests focus on transplantation and cellular therapies, particularly the challenges of post-transplant chimerism and its role in post-transplant care, as well as the broader field of chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms. She has participated in international research projects, introducing new preparatory procedures in transplantation. She was also a co-investigator in several grants, including the multi-centre HEMOGRAFT project under Prevention and Treatment of Civilizational Diseases – STRATEGMED programme. Since 2018, she has led the myeloproliferative neoplasms section of the Polish Adult Leukemia Group (PALG). She has co-authored standards, textbook chapters in haematology, and numerous publications and has supervised three doctoral theses.

From 2003 to 2011, she served as Secretary and later General Secretary of the Polish Society of Haematologists and Transfusionists. She is a member of the European Haematology Association (EHA) and the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). Throughout her professional career, she completed clinical and research fellowships at the Haematology Clinic of the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, and the Clinic for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

She has been awarded the Gold Cross of Merit (2013) and the Medal of the Commission of National Education (2019). In 2024, the community of the University Clinical Centre named her the Transplantologist of the Year.

Przemysław Rutkowski – academic teacher, physician, specialist in internal diseases, nephrology and clinical transplantology, professor of medical sciences. From 2016 to 2020 he served as vice-dean for student and social affairs of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Medical University of Gdańsk. During the 2020–2024 term, he was the dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences with the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine.

He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical Academy in Gdańsk in 1994. He received his Ph.D. in 2000 based on his dissertation entitled The impact of nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism on the development and progression of chronic renal failure, supervised by Prof. Władysław Grzeszczak. He obtained his habilitation degree in 2009 based on his scientific achievements and the dissertation entitled Nicotinamide derivatives – a new family of uremic toxins. He chose his specialisation in internal medicine, nephrology, and clinical transplantology. In 2019, he was awarded the title of professor of medical sciences.

Throughout his professional life, he has been associated with his alma mater – initially as an assistant, and since 2000, as an assistant professor at the Clinic of Nephrology, Transplantology and Internal Diseases. Since 2013, he has been an assistant professor at the Department of General Nursing. In 2016, he was appointed as an associate professor. In 2005, he completed a one-year research internship at the Department of Toxicology at the University of Würzburg under the Nephrocore scholarship programme. Since 2009, he has been a member of nephrology examination boards.

He has supervised five completed doctoral dissertations and mentored specializations in internal medicine and nephrology. From 2016 to 2019, he was the president of the Gdańsk-Pomeranian Branch of the Polish Society of Nephrology. He then served two terms on the Audit Committee of the Main Board and is currently a member of the Main Board of the PTN. He is the author and co-author of over 270 publications with an Impact Factor (IF) of approximately 160 and 2,695 KBN/MNiSW points. His main scientific and clinical interests include chronic kidney disease, glomerular kidney diseases, dialysis therapy, kidney transplantation, and arterial hypertension.

Ewelina Król is a graduate of biotechnology from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG&MUG. After her studies, she pursued doctoral studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry (2004-2011). Towards the end of her doctoral studies in 2009, she was employed as a senior technical assistant at the Department of Recombinant Vaccines at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG&MUG, where she continues to work to this day. In 2011, she obtained her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with a focus on Biochemistry, based on her dissertation titled Application of Classical Swine Fever Virus (CSFV) as a Model to Study the Activity of New Inhibitors of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Development (supervisor: Prof. Bogusław Szewczyk). Since 2012, she has been employed as an assistant professor at the University of Gdańsk. In 2012, she completed a short-term internship at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, USA, and in 2016, an internship at the Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic. In 2020, she obtained her habilitation degree in natural and exact sciences in the field of biological sciences, based on her scientific achievement entitled Development of Innovative Strategies to Combat Human Viral Infections Using Chemically Synthesized Inhibitors. The same year, she was appointed as an associate professor at the University of Gdańsk.

Since 2016, she has been a member of the University of Gdańsk Senate and, since 2019, of the Council of the Discipline of Biological Sciences at UG. During the 2020-2024 term, she served as the Dean of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG&MUG. In 2023, she was appointed head of the Department of Recombinant Vaccines at the MWB UG&MUG.

Her research focuses on developing effective, innovative next-generation recombinant antiviral vaccines based on virus-like particles and/or mRNA, as well as exploring innovative therapeutic options based on chemically synthesized inhibitors of protein glycosylation. Viruses from the Flaviviridae family (Hepatitis C virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, Zika virus), and coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, NL63, MHV) constitute the core of her scientific interests.

For the past several years, she has actively sought external funding to support her scientific research. She has led several national scientific projects funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (twice under the Iuventus Plus program), the National Science Centre (Preludium, Sonata, Fast Track COVID-19, Opus), and the National Centre for Research and Development (Leader). Currently, she is involved in an international project funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe program, where she serves as the project leaderat the University of Gdańsk. She has also been the chief investigator in several national and international projects. A popularizer of science, she has conducted numerous lectures and workshops.

She is the author of four Polish patents and several Polish and international patent applications. She has published her scientific work in renowned journals, including Trends in Biotechnology, Antiviral Research, Journal of Virology, Biosensors & Bioelectronics, European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and Microbiology Spectrum. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gdańsk Scientific Society and the Mayor of Gdańsk Award for outstanding achievements of young scientists, individual and team awards from the Rector of the University of Gdańsk for scientific and organisational achievements, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s TOP500 Innovators Science-Management-Commercialization competition, through which she completed an internship at Stanford University in the United States. She is also a laureate of the prestigious L’Oreal UNESCO For Women in Science scholarship in the habilitation thesis category.