Contact
Office
(434) 243-1733
Location
MR5 2225
Shipping: 415 Lane Road | MR5 2225
PO BOX 800759
Charlottesville, VA 22904

Róża Przanowska, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biomedical Engineering
Contact
Office
(434) 243-1733
Location
MR5 2225
Shipping: 415 Lane Road | MR5 2225
PO BOX 800759
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Google Scholar Janes Lab LinkedIn

About

Dr. Róża Kamila Przanowska is a Polish molecular biologist specializing in non-coding RNAs in cancer and development. As a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Kevin Janes’s laboratory at UVA, she investigates the heterogeneity of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

Róża’s postdoctoral research, supported by National Cancer Institute, involves discovering lncRNAs that drive cellular heterogeneity and studying their functions in luminal breast cancer. Through translational collaborations with Dr. Shayna Showalter, Roza developed a new approach to primary tumor cell culture: zero-passage organoids. The collaborative project is supported by a UVA Coulter Center grant and is a part of POWER II clinical trial.

Róża earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Biotechnology from the University of Warsaw, Poland, working on overexpression and crystallization of CCR4-NOT complex subunits. Her training included international experiences as a Summer Intern at the Max Planck Institute in Bad Nauheim, Germany (2014) and as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA (2015). She completed her Ph.D. at UVA in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in 2021 under the mentorship of Dr. Anindya Dutta with a dissertation titled “Essentiality and Functional Importance of Short and Long Non-Coding RNAs in Myogenesis.”

Róża’s work has been recognized through several awards, including the American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship (2018), the F99/K00 NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (2020), the Graduate Biosciences Society Student Leadership Award (2021), the BME Postdoc Research and Scholarship Award (2023), and the BME Postdoc Leadership and Service Award (2024). In 2024, she was named a Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research Postdoctoral Scholar.

Education

PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia

MSc in Biotechnology: Stem cells in biology and medicine, University of Warsaw, Poland

BSc in Biotechnology, University of Warsaw, Poland

Keywords

Cancer Biology
Non-coding RNA
Breast Cancer Heterogeneity
Zero-Passage Organoids
LncRNA structure-function

Selected Publications

Endo-reduplication in mouse liver after conditional mutation of ORC2 and combined mutation of ORC1 and ORC2. eLife. 13:RP102915 (2024). Przanowska RK*, Chen Y*, Uchida TO, Shibata E, Hao X, Rueda IS, Jensen K, Przanowski P, Trimboli A, Shibata Y, Leone G, Dutta A.
Patient-derived response estimates from zero-passage organoids of luminal breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 26, 192 (2024). Przanowska RK*, Labban N*, Przanowski P, Hawes RB, Atkins KA, Showalter SL, Janes KA.
ANKLE1 cleaves mitochondrial DNA and contributes to cancer risk by driving the Warburg effect and apoptosis resistance. Commun Biol 6, 231 (2023). Przanowski P, Przanowska RK, Guertin MJ.
Distinct MUNC lncRNA structural domains regulate transcription of different promyogenic factors. Cell Rep. 38(7):110361 (2022). Przanowska RK, Weidmann CA, Saha S, Cichewicz MA, Jensen KN, Przanowski P, Irving PS, Janes KA, Guertin MJ, Weeks KM, Dutta A.
miR-206 family is important for mitochondrial and muscle function, but not essential for myogenesis in vitro. FASEB J. 34(6):7687-7702 (2020). Przanowska RK, Sobierajska E, Su Z, Jensen K, Przanowski P, Nagdas S, Kashatus JA, Kashatus DF, Bhatnagar S, Lukens JR, Dutta A.
MUNC, an Enhancer RNA Upstream from the MYOD Gene, Induces a Subgroup of Myogenic Transcripts in trans Independently of MyoD. Mol Cell Biol. 38(20):e00655-17 (2018). Cichewicz MA*, Kiran M*, Przanowska RK*, Sobierajska E, Shibata Y, Dutta A.

Courses Taught

Biomedical Sciences Summer Prep University of Virginia, 2018-2020

Awards

Post-Doctoral Scholar Research Grant Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research, 2024-2025
F99/K00 NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award National Cancer Institute, NIH, 2020-2025
BME Postdoc Leadership and Service Award Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, 2024
BME Postdoc Research and Scholarship Award Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, 2023
Cancer Center Trainee Fellowship University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2023-2025
Women's History Month Phenomenal Woman University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2023
Graduate Leadership Award, International Student Office University of Virginia, 2022
Student Leadership Award , Graduate Biosciences Society University of Virginia, 2021
Outstanding Student Award Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, 2021
NSF Conference Award RNA Society Meeting, 2021
Keystone Symposia Scholarship Non-Coding RNAs Symposium, 2021
Annual Meeting Award American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), 2021
Robert R. Wagner Fellowship University of Virginia, 2020
Hamlin Lecture Series Award Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, 2020
3rd place, Three Minute Thesis Competition UVA, 2019
Predoctoral Fellowship, 2018-2020 American Heart Association
Scientific Excellence Scholarship Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, 2013-2015
Rector’s Scholarship University of Warsaw, 2011-2015
Outstanding Student Scholarship Interdisciplinary Education in Biomedical Sciences, 2013-2015
Gold medal, iGEM Warsaw Team International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, 2013

Featured Grants & Projects

NIH K00CA253732 | F99CA253732 National Cancer Institute Long non-coding RNA Heterogeneity in ER + Breast Cancer
NIH RePORTER
Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research Predicting radioresistance risk using primary luminal breast cancer organoids and gene expression signatures
UVA Coulter Center

In The News

  • UVA Researchers Fast-Track Cancer Care with Patient-Specific Tumor Models

    Engineering and medical research team’s new method could help oncologists predict which therapies will work best for individual patients with a common form of breast cancer.

    Read Now