Ewa Chrostek

Ewa Chrostek is a biotechnologist trained at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. She decided to pursue a PhD and subsequent fellowships abroad. She completed her PhD at the Gulbenkian Institute in Oeiras, Portugal, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. She then undertook an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany. Later, she moved to the University of Liverpool in the UK, supported by FEBS and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Long-Term Fellowships.

Securing an ERC Starting Grant (Mechano-Wolbachia) and delays in the UK's association with Horizon Europe prompted her to return to the Jagiellonian University, where she now leads the Molecular Mechanism of Symbiosis Lab. She remains affiliated with the University of Liverpool, holding an Honorary Lecturer position.

Her research focuses on Wolbachia, an intracellular symbiont of insects and filarial nematodes, capable of influencing the reproduction, survival, and immunity of its diverse hosts. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying Wolbachia-host interactions remain unknown, Wolbachia is currently being used to limit the spread of insect-borne viruses and as a target in the treatment of filariasis. Dr. Chrostek’s research contributes to the fundamental understanding of infection biology and aims to maximize the applied benefits of Wolbachia for human disease prevention and treatment.