Marek Jan Sanak (born 24 November 1958) is a Polish

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

and

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

medical sciences Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

, Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Clinical Genetics of the

Jagiellonian University Medical College Jagiellonian University Medical College is the oldest medical school in Poland. The Jagiellonian University's Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy are acclaimed as one of the largest medical academies in Poland. The school was established by King C ...

, Head of the Department of Biochemical and Molecular Diagnostics at the University Hospital in Kraków, the Jagiellonian University Rector's Plenipotentiary for Science and Development in the Medical College, member of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

, and the author of more than 230 original research papers published in

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed journals. In 1997, together with

Andrzej Szczeklik Andrzej Szczeklik (July 29, 1938 – February 3, 2012) was a Polish immunologist working at the Jagiellonian University School of Medicine (''Collegium Medicum'') in Kraków. Having received numerous distinctions for his research, Szczeklik was ...

, he received the Lancet Investigators Award of ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

'' magazine for their research on

bronchial asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coug ...

Biography

He was born in 1958, the son of Maria Sanak (née Policht), later a judge of the

Supreme Administrative Court of Poland The Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny, NSA) is the court of last resort in administrative cases e.g. those betweens private citizens (or corporations) and administrative bodies. This court d ...

, and Stanisław Sanak. He attended the

Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School (''I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Bartłomieja Nowodworskiego''; unofficially known as: Nowodworek) in Kraków, Poland is one of the oldest secondary schools in Poland. Its current location is on Na Groblach Sq ...

, where he passed

matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

in 1977. In 1983, he graduated with distinction from the Medical Academy in Kraków. That year, he started to work as a junior assistant at the Department of Medical Genetics at the Pediatrics Institute in Kraków. In 1988, he took a three-month intership at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 1991, he received a one-year scholarship from the

Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology The Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology is the science and technology ministry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. , the minister for science and technology was Evariste Heva Muakasa. The Ministry of Science and Technology is the ...

of the Republic of France, in the unit U-12 of the Institute of Medical Research (INSERM), located in the

Necker Hospital Necker may refer to: * Necker (surname) * ''Necker'' (ship), several ships * Neckerchief, cloth worn round the neck * Necker cube, optical illusion * Necker Island (Hawaii) * Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) * Necker–Enfants Malades Hospi ...

in Paris and headed by Arnold Munnich and Marie-Claude Hors-Cayla. In 1989, he received the second degree of specialization in

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

with distinction. In the following years, he worked as a pediatrician. In 1993, he obtained a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

, under the supervision of Jacek J. Pietrzyk. His doctoral thesis focused on the

congenital disorders A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...

in children, taking into account the distribution of

atmospheric pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

with

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as ...

. Between 1993–2005 he worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, at the Department of Brain Biochemistry headed by

Jerzy Vetulani Jerzy Adam Gracjan Vetulani (; 21 January 1936 – 6 April 2017) was a Polish neuroscientist, pharmacologist and biochemist, professor of natural sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, one of the mo ...

. Since 1995, he also worked at the

(CMUJ), at the Department of Allergy and Immunology and as Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Internal Diseases, running research mostly in the fields of

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

and

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. In 1997, he spent two months in the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research in Davos. In 1998, he re-visited Harvard, making a two-month stay. He obtained the postdoctoral degree in medical sciences in the field of

clinical genetics Medical genetics is the branch tics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, while medical genetics refers to the application of genetics to medical care. For example, research on the caus ...

in 2001. In 2005, he obtained a specialization in clinical genetics, and in 2007 – a specialization in laboratory medical genetics. In 2007, he received the title of

. Since 2008, he has been Head of the Department of Biochemical and Molecular Diagnostics at the University Hospital in Kraków, and since 2009 Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Clinical Genetics of the Medical Faculty of the

. He was appointed the Jagiellonian University Rector's Plenipotentiary for Science and Development in the Medical College for the term 2016–2020. Sanak authored or co-authored more than 230 original

research papers Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally publ ...

in international

ed journals. He was the author of the discovery of the

genetic polymorphism A gene is said to be polymorphic if more than one allele occupies that gene's locus within a population. In addition to having more than one allele at a specific locus, each allele must also occur in the population at a rate of at least 1% to gen ...

of the promoter region of the gene of the

leukotriene C4 Leukotriene C4 (LTC4) is a leukotriene. LTC4 has been extensively studied in the context of allergy and asthma. In cells of myeloid origin such as mast cells, its biosynthesis is orchestrated by translocation to the nuclear envelope along with c ...

synthase In biochemistry, a synthase is an enzyme that catalyses a synthesis process. Note that, originally, biochemical nomenclature distinguished synthetases and synthases. Under the original definition, synthases do not use energy from nucleoside tripho ...

; and he participated in establishing the relationship between genetic overexpression caused by the presence of the altered

allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...

of that gene and the overproduction of cysteinyl leukotrienes in

. For this last discovery, in 1997 he received the Lancet Investigators Award of ''

'' magazine, together with

. Sanak has been active as an academic teacher. Since 2003, he has been a lecturer at the Postgraduate Studies of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Jagiellonian University. Since 2005, he has been leading a course for the students of the Faculty of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University. Since 2006, he has been leading the classes for the students of the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Medicine in English of the Jagiellonian University. He was the promoter of fourteen doctoral dissertations. Marek Sanak 14

He is a member of the Polish Society of Paediatrics (since 1986), the Polish Society of Human Genetics (since 1997) and the

European Society for Paediatric Research The European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR) is a professional association of neonatal and paediatric researchers comprising different sub-specialties. Together with its sister organisations, the American Pediatric Society (APS) and the Soc ...

(since 1990). He is also a member of the

European Society for Clinical Investigation The European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) was founded on February 12, 1967 as a pan-European society of clinicians and scientists with a genuine interest in uncovering disease mechanisms. The term ''clinical investigation'' is interpret ...

and was its Vice-President between 2003–2004. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 2006, he was elected a member of the Scientific Council of the School of Medicine in English of the Jagiellonian University. Since 2007, he has been a member of the Interdisciplinary Center of Bioethics of the Jagiellonian University Medical College, as well as member of the Committee of Physiological and Pharmacological Sciences of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

. He is a member of the editorial boards of journals ''

Allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic derma ...

'' and ''Medycyna Praktyczna''; as well as the board of the popular science magazine ''

Wszechświat ''Wszechświat'' ("The Universe") is a Polish popular-science magazine, currently issued as quarterly by Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists, supported by AGH University of Science and Technology and Polish Academy of Learning. History ''Ws ...

''. He is a member of the Program Council of the Science and Art Festival in Kraków (Festiwal Nauki i Sztuki). In 2008, he was elected a member of the

Personal life

He is married to Iwona Sanak, a voivodeship consultant in the field of pediatric dentistry. Their daughter, Katarzyna Sanak-Kosmowska, is a marketing theorist.

Awards

* Lancet Investigators Award (1997) * Individual Award of the Minister of Health and Welfare of Poland for the outstanding achievements in the field of molecular biology (1999) * Jagiellonian University Rector Award (2010) * Jagiellonian Laurel (2012) * Distinction for the best lecturer awarded by the students of the School of Medicine in English of the Jagiellonian University Medical College (2013) * „Pro Arte Docendi” Award (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanak, Marek 1958 births Living people Polish geneticists Polish molecular biologists Polish pediatricians Physicians from Kraków Members of the Polish Academy of Learning Jagiellonian University alumni Academic staff of Jagiellonian University