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Short Biography and Research Interests:
Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz received his M.D. (1960; with the highest honors) and Ph.D. (1966) from the Medical University of Warsaw. His post-graduate scholarships were at the State University of New York at Buffalo and at the Medical Nobel Institute of Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Subsequently he was the Member of the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Institute and the Professor of Cell Biology and Genetics at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY (1980-90). From 1990 he is the Professor of Pathology, Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at the New York Medical College at Valhalla, NY, and the Director of the Brander Cancer Research Institute at this College.
Since 1972 his research has been continuously supported by the grants from National Institute of Health including the prestigious MERIT award. He was also a recipient of a grant from NASA to develop technologies for cell analysis applicable to the micro-gravity conditions of the International Space Station and also was supported by several private cancer research foundations. During 1986-87 he was the President of the Cell Kinetics Society and throughout 1993-94 the President of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC).
Dr. Darzynkiewicz is the Member (Foreign) of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN; Warsaw), Polish Academy of Learning (PAU, Krakow), and the Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He also is the Editor or/Co-editor of 5 scientific journals and a Member of the Editorial Board of 11 other scientific journals. Since 1980 he presented by invitation over 370 lectures and seminars on national and international congresses, symposia, and in various research institutions.
Dr. Darzynkiewicz was awarded by the Honoris Causa degree from his alma mater, the Warsaw Medical University (2014), by the Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award from the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America (PIASA) (2014) and by the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Research Award from Jozef Pilsudski Institute in America (2011). He was the Co-founder and become Honorary Member of the Polish Society of Cytometry (1996) and was granted Honorary Membership from the Cytometry Society of Japan (1995), Society of Cytometry of Iberia (1997), and the Polish Society of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine (2000). He is the Co-founder and Member of the Collegium of Eminent Scientists of Polish Origin and Ancestry, of the Kosciuszko Foundation.
Dr. Darzynkiewicz's research on cell biology and cancer is focused on molecular mechanisms associated with cell proliferation, cell senescence, apoptosis and sensitivity to anti-cancer drugs. He pioneered in developing methodologies of flow- and imaging- cytometry that found world-wide application along the research dedicated to the above subjects. Of particular importance is his invention of the methodology to detect and measure fragmentation of DNA that occurs during apoptosis (TUNEL). This assay has become standard to identify and count apoptotic cells and especially useful in assessment of effectiveness of anticancer drugs in research setting and in the clinic. Another methodology to detect and quantify apoptotic cells developed by him, the one that that employs fluorochrome labeled inhibitors of caspases (FLICA), has also become of the standard, worldwide usage. Of significance is also his methodology to detect and measure content of RNA and conformation of DNA (DNA denaturation) in individual cells. The latter (Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay; SCSA), together with the TUNEL assay, become the standard tests in analysis of male fertility in human and in husbandry. Of importance are also his methodologies leading to the findings linking expression of different markers detected by cytometry with the cell cycle position. All these methods have been applied in his investigations in a field of cell biology and contributed towards the further progress in development and applicability of the imaging- and flow cytometry/cell sorting- instruments manufactured by several companies.
As of December 2020, Dr. Darzynkiewicz has published over 780 articles in peer-reviewed journals, has edited and co-authored 15 books and was granted eight US patents. Since 1980, he presented by invitation over 380 lectures and seminars on national and international congresses, symposia, and in various research institutions. His publications have been cited over 52,000 times and his bibliometric Google h-index is 115.
Contact: Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz