group
Our Team
We are a group of young enthusiasts actively involved in a research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of chronic pain. These mechanisms are focused on pain modulation processes and characteristics of endogenous system involved in the transmission of pain stimuli with particular attention to the endocannabinoid system.
Enthusiasm is absolutely necessary if you ever want to accomplish anything of value and it just so happens that PAIN LAB members are young, enthusiastic scientists, combining a good understanding of the research ideas with a solid university experience and very strong motivation for scientific work.
PAIN LAB was established in June 2013 by the IF PAN Scientific Council thanks to the National Science Centre (NCN) funding.
Katarzyna Starowicz
The Head of the Pain Lab is a neuropharmacologist leading a research group based at the Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences (www.if-pan.krakow.pl). Katarzyna (see full CV) has a longstanding interest in the area of pain and analgesia, particularly in understanding the functional significance of endovanilloid involvement in nociceptive transmission at the supraspinal and spinal levels. Her interests focus on bridging large gaps in the field of pain neurobiology concerning the pathomechanisms of chronic pain with the aim to pinpoint novel targets for the development of new pain therapies.
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Marta Kędziora
Marta is a post-doc researcher in the Pain Lab team. She prepared her PhD Thesis on the mechanism and pharmacotherapy of osteoarthritis with a particular emphasis on endocannabinoid system targeting. In OPUS projects, Marta performs experiments in order to understand the role of the endocannabinoid regulation of the motivational tone at the mesolimbic system driven by inflammation. She is also a Principal Investigator of the PRELUDIUM grant, where she studies the anti-inflammatory potential of novel polymers for osteoarthritis treatment in the in vitro cell cultures. Apart from laboratory work, she prefers to spend her free time active, especially enjoys cycling and long-distance walking excursions
Katarzyna Popiołek-Barczyk
Magdalena Białoń
Magda is a post-doc researcher in the Pain Lab team. She defended her PhD Thesis on 1MeTIQ – an endogenous compound – and its antipsychotic action in animal schizophrenia model. Magda is a Principal Investigator of the PRELUDIUM grant, in which she evaluates the antipsychotic potential of the phytocannabinoid β-caryophyllene in an animal model of schizophrenia and tries to shed more light on the engagement of the endocannabinoid system in psychiatric disorders. She is also involved in the implementation of OPUS grants (PI in both: prof. Katarzyna Starowicz), she conducts experiments in order to assess depressive symptoms, anxiety behaviors and cognitive decline occurring in animal models of chronic pain, focusing on the role of the endocannabinoid system. Besides scientific life, she enjoys spending her free time reading a good book, doing puzzles or forest walking.
Maciej Degutis
Former Members
Jakub Mlost (2015-2022)
Jakub Chwastek (2018-2021)
Magdalena Kostrzewa (2013-2017)
Natalia Małek (2011-2017)
Agnieszka Pająk (2013-2016)
Mateusz Kucharczyk (2013-2015)
Undergraduate
Mateusz Królewski, University of Agriculture in Krakow (The academic year 2023/2024)
Majciej Degutis, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University (The academic year 2022/2023)
Aleksandra Pędracka, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University (The academic year 2019/2020)
Przemysław Kac, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University (The academic year 2018/2019)
Katarzyna Dudek, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University (The academic year 2015/2016)
Visiting Students
Pilar Martinez Albaladejo, University of Murcia (Fall Semester 2018/2019)
Adrian Kobiela, University College London (Summer 2015)
