Dendritic cells in Melanoma
Polak, M.E.
Citation
Polak, M. E. (2008, September 16). Dendritic cells in Melanoma. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13100
Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version
License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden
Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13100
Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable).
List of Publications
1: Polak ME, Borthwick NJ, Jager MJ, Cree IA.
Dendritic cell-mediated immunosuppression in malignant melanoma. Review Article Cancer Therapy 2003, 1: 393-405.
2: Polak ME, Johnson P, Di Palma S, Higgins B, Hurren J, Borthwick NJ, Jager MJ, Mccormick D, Cree IA.
Presence and maturity of dendritic cells in melanoma lymph node metastases. J Pathol. 2005, 207: 83-90.
3: Knight LA, Conroy M, Fernando A, Polak M, Kurbacher CM, Cree IA.
Pilot studies of the effect of zoledronic acid (Zometa) on tumor-derived cells ex vivo in the ATP-based tumor chemosensitivity assay.
Anticancer Drugs. 2005, 16: 969-976.
4: W. Polak, O. Veselov, J. Lekki, Z. Stachura, M. Zazula, R. Ugenskiene, M. Polak,
.
Irradiating single cells using Cracow microprobe facility.
Nucl. Instr. Meth. in Phys. Res. 2006, B 249: 743–746
5: Polak ME, Borthwick NJ, Johnson P, Hungerford JL, Higgins B, Di Palma S, Jager MJ, Cree IA.
Presence and phenotype of dendritic cells in uveal melanoma.
Br J Ophthalmol. 2007, 91: 971-976.
6: Polak ME, Borthwick NJ, Gabriel FG, Johnson P, Higgins B, Hurren J, McCormick D, Jager MJ, Cree IA.
Mechanisms of local immunosuppression in cutaneous melanoma. Br J Cancer. 2007, 96: 1879-1887.
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7: Polak ME, Borthwick NJ, Gabriel FG, Jager MJ, Cree IA.
Activation of tonsil dendritic cells in culture with immuno-adjuvants.
BMC Immunology, 2008, Mar;18: 9
8: Glaysher S, Gabriel FG, Johnson P, Polak ME, Knight LA, Goldthorpe Z, Parker K, Poole M, Narayanan A, Patel C, Andreotti PA, Cree IA, for the NHS Collaborative Research Programme for Predictive Oncology.
The molecular basis of chemosensitivity of breast cancer to cytotoxic agents alone and in combination.
Submitted
9: Glaysher S, Gabriel FG, Johnson P, Polak ME, Knight LA, Goldthorpe Z, Parker K, Modi P, Yiannakis D, Rahamin J, Smith M, Amer K, Addis B, Poole M,
Narayanan A, Patel C, Gulliford TJ, Andreotti PE, Cree IA for the NHS Collaborative Research Programme for Predictive Oncology.
Resistance gene expression determines the ex vivo sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to cisplatin, gemcitabine, docetaxel, and their combinations.
Submitted
10. Polak ME, Borthwick NJ, Jager MJ, Cree IA.
Melanoma Vaccines – Problems of local immunosuppression.
Submitted.
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Curriculum Vitae
Marta Polak was born on the 25th of February 1978 in Tarnow, Poland. In 1994 she graduated the Slowacki III Independent High School in Krakow, Poland, obtaining the Baccalaureate with distinctions in Biology, Polish and English.
She entered the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland in 1994, and studied Biotechnology at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology and Earth Science. On the completion of the third year, she wrote a mid-study thesis entitled
“The role of macrophages in cancer metastasis” and got involved in research on the biology of melanoma in the group of Dr. Krystyna Urbanska. Having obtained a stipend under the Socrates-Erasmus Programme, she travelled to Leiden, The Netherlands in 2001, where at the Department of Ophthalmology of the Leiden
University Medical Center, she participated in a research project on heat shock protein expression in uveal and cutaneous melanoma cells under the auspices of Dr Martine Jager and Dr Monique Hurks. She appreciated the excitement of high-quality scientific work, and decided to focus her career on immunology of melanoma.
In 2002, after defending her Master of Science thesis entitled “The Role of Heat Shock Proteins in Melanoma” at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, Marta moved to Portsmouth, UK, to join the Translational Oncology Research Centre, Queen Alexandra Hospital, directed by Professor Ian Cree. During the subsequent four years she carried out this PhD project about the function of dendritic cells in melanoma, during which she collaborated closely with Dr Martine Jager, LUMC, The Netherlands.
After having completed the PhD project, Marta started working as a research scientist at the Translational Oncology Research Centre, and in collaboration with Dr Louise Howell and Francis Guy Gabriel worked on developing gene signature tests for early diagnosis of cancer and individualised treatment for cancer patients.
In February of 2008, Marta moved to Southampton, to join the Dermatopharmacology group of the Division of Infection, Inflammation and Repair, University of
Southampton, UK, where she undertook a project on the mechanisms of the regulation of immune responses in atopic dermatitis under the supervision of Dr Michael
Ardern-Jones.
She is married and has two kids.
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