Magdalena Bieniasz, PhD
- Research Program: Geroscience
- Position: Aging and Metabolism Research Program at OMRF, Assistant Professor
Biography
The aging process is associated with mitochondrial and cellular metabolism dysfunction as well as oxidative stress. Dr. Bieniasz’s research focuses on understanding the effects of aging and metabolism on ovarian cancer progression and response to treatment. Specifically, Dr. Bieniasz study the function and relevance of the key mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase in mitochondrial energy metabolism and ovarian cancer patients’ survival. Dr. Bieniasz strives to generate more effective and personalized treatment options by targeting the unique metabolic state of ovarian cancer. To facilitate these goals and to ensure to have correct tools to study ovarian cancer, as it exists in real patients.
Dr. Bieniasz generated the most innovative and clinically relevant ovarian tumor models called patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). PDX tumor models are derived directly from ovarian cancer patients undergoing therapy in the Stephenson Cancer Center in Oklahoma City. Ultimately, Dr. Bieniasz aims to advance the knowledge of the mechanisms of ovarian cancer progression and chemotherapy resistance to design new treatment strategies with the long-term goal of translating of these therapies into clinical practice.
Dr. Bieniasz has extensive experience in teaching, training, and research in multiple institutions. Dr. Magdalena Bieniasz received her PhD in Medical Biology from the University of Lodz, Poland. She completed her postdoctoral training in Dr. Alana Welm lab at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, UT. Her postdoctoral training focused on the role of short-form Ron receptor kinase in breast cancer led to the discovery that sfRon plays also an important role in ovarian cancer pathogenesis. During her time as a post-doc, Dr. Bieniasz developed an extensive expertise in cancer biology as well as development and utilization of PDX tumor models.
In 2014, Dr. Bieniasz joined Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) as senior postdoctoral fellow and two years later, she was promoted to Assistant Professor. Currently, Dr. Bieniasz’s lab is located in the well-established Aging and Metabolism Research Program at OMRF. Since 2011 Dr. Bieniasz has been continually funded by the National Institute of Health and nonprofit foundations dedicated to the eradication of cancer in the U.S. Dr. Bieniasz is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Publications
- Graduate School
- University of Utah
- Huntsman Cancer Institute
- Undergraduate School
- Medical University of Lodz, Poland
- Ovarian cancer metabolism