Professor at the University of Gdańsk
Danuta Gutowska-Owsiak graduated from the Medical University in Gdańsk, Poland, and then moved to the UK, where she undertook doctoral training at the University of Liverpool, investigating NKT cells in rheumatoid arthritis (PhD in 2010); she also undertook short research training at INSERM in Paris during that time. In 2009 she moved to Oxford where she joined the MRC Human Immunology Unit and the group of Prof. Graham Ogg at the prestigious Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. There she started a line of research on formation of skin barrier and its regulation by inflammation in skin disease. In 2017 Danuta was distinguished with the “Young Investigator Award” by the British Society for Investigative Dermatology for her substantial contribution to the dermatology research.
Danuta was awarded the prestigious National Science Centre-EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND fellowship POLONEZ and “First TEAM” grants, followed by additional grant funding from the Foundation for Polish Science; she also received further Sonata BIS and Opus grans from the National Science Centre. The generous funding allowed Danuta to develop a programme of immunological and skin research at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG-MUG in Gdańsk. Danuta is also involved in the EU COST action and European research consortia; in 2024 she was elected as a Co-chair of the European Epithelial Barrier Research Network (E2BRN). Recently, she was nominated to join AcademiaNet, the network of distinguished female researchers in Europe and beyond.
Danuta has a strong interest in both epidermal barrier formation and the immunity in the skin, as well as extracellular vesicles as mediators of cellular communication. Together with her team, she investigates allergic inflammation, as well as basic immunological mechanisms of T cell and dendritic call biology, including more translational angle.
