Marta Polak

"I am a group leader/principal investigator/research fellow/head of the lab - so many different ways to describe a scientist. :-) I am an Innovator - I love finding solutions, investigate how things work, and leading independent research."

"I investigate how immune defences work in human skin. With my group (4 PhD students, 2 postdocs) and collaborators (clinicians and scientists) across the World we look into the function of different cell types in the skin, when it is exposed to infection, or allergens or other challenges. To be able to understand how they make a decision whether to activate or not immune responses, we use assays which tell us about the behaviour of each gene in each single cell.In the next step we design computer models to understand how they communicate with each other, and to figure out the key molecules which take part in this dialogue. The models allow us to predict how to design best diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, which then can be used to improve patient treatment. What I absolutely love about my work is the excitement - every day brings new discoveries, and new challenges to solve. The feeling of alliance when we put our heads together to tackle a particularly difficult problems. The power of making a break-through discovery. And fact that at the end of the project, we chart new pathways in biology, which can be used to help patients with skin disease."

"The path to become a principal investigator in academia is fairly challenging - but it is definitely worth it! I have completed an MSc degree in molecular biology, then PhD in immunology, and two post-doctoral positions in a scientific lab. All super enjoyable and in a great company - I was very fortunate to receive a lot of support from academic supervisors and mentors. My obsession about one specific cell type (\"a dendritic cell\", a really cool one, which senses the dangers and instructs other cells of immune system how to react) drove me to apply for a career track fellowship at the university, and following this, to apply for a super- prestigious fellowship from Wellcome Trust. On my way there I had learnt bioinformatics and basics of computer modelling. The day I was awarded the fellowship was the true turning point - I was not only able to pursue my research vision, but was able to do it the way I wanted :-) And so the Systems Immunology Group started, and and the quest for answers to all the exciting research questions I/we could come up with."

"I explore! :-) Travelling is my passion, so is reading books (like a mad woman). I also love playing board games. And sports - running, cycling, swimming."

"No day is typical.But what my responsibilities are:- leading the research programme/group - designing projects, following the project progress with people in charge (my PhD studenst and Post-docs), troubleshooting problems and figuring out new research questions- writing grant applications - all research needs to get funding from somewhere, these are usually research councils and charities - the trick is to figure out an important research question, and then propose a solution to it, together with a detail plan of how to achieve it- writing scientific publications - once the projects are done, the results need to be presented - to the public and to the scientific community- meeting with collaborators - new research projects and ideas need to be designed- learning new approaches - science constantly moves forward - new codes are being written, new models are being proposed, new technologies developed- supervising PhD students - one of the most rewarding aspects of a career in academia- sometimes I do lecturing, exam marking, facilitating groups etc- going to conferences and workshops- contributing to management of the division/Faculty/University - from small tasks, slowly building up engagement - and last but not least - I travel a lot - with collaborators in both Americas and Africa, I visit other continents quite frequently"

"Education: MSc, PhD, certificates in bioinformatics, biostatistics and machine learningCareer Development: student - PhD student - post-doc - Career Track Fellow - Wellcome Trust Fellow/Principal Investigator - Associate Professor"