Rector’s Award 2023

We are honored to announce that the winner of the Rector’s Award 2023 is Ms. Hoang Bao Ngoc Tran.
Congratulations!

Ms. Hoang Bao Ngoc Tran, 6th year 6MD student comes from Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam. She is a laureate of 8th edition of the UMED Grants 2022 program – she received a grant for the project “Extracellular collagen effect on connexin 43 in heart fibrosis”. Her presentation “Regulatory effect of Extracellular Matrix components and a2B1 integrin on connexin 43 density in cardiac fibroblasts” won 3rd place during the conference Juvenes Pro Medicina (11-14.05.2023). The student has been actively participating in research and scientific work of the Department of Pathophysiology for several years under the supervision of Prof. Jacek Drobnik.

Below you can read about student’s scientific work:

“My name is Tran Hoang Bao Ngoc and I am from Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. I have had the honor to, currently, study and research at the Department of Pathophysiology – Medical University of Lodz. I am under the guidance and supervision of Prof. Jacek Drobnik and Ms. Malgorzata Galdyszynska, M.Sc. Our main target is to explore the role of cardiac fibroblasts, their interaction with the Extracellular matrix (ECM) and how these phenomena can influence the pathological mechanism of cardiac fibrosis.  To be more specific, recently we have taken a look into the activity of Connexin 43 as this gap junction has not only been linked to the cardiac fibrosis itself, but also its complications such as arrhythmia. As the result of our hard work, we can conclude that the ECM and α2β1 integrin exert regulatory effect on Connexin 43. We are very excited about our result and we are all eager to learn more about how this regulation is mediated. Additionally, we also have a small project which we observed the cardiac fibroblasts that we cultured in a non-conventional environment called hanging drops. We have recorded many key differences such as shape and ECM metabolism of these cells in comparison to the conventional one. This is very interesting to us and we are hoping that our finding may contribute to the development of a more advance culturing method for study of cardiac fibroblasts.”

Here’s Ms. Hoang Bao Ngoc Tran’s comment on winning the Rector’s Award:

” I am honored to receive the prestigious Rector’s Award. This recognition is a testament to the support and encouragement that I have received from those who have played a pivotal role in my academic journey.

First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisors, Prof. Jack Drobnik and Ms. Malgorzata Galdyszynska, whose dedication and meticulous guidance have been instrumental in shaping my academic aspirations.

I also extend my appreciation to the Medical University of Lodz. I would like to say thank you to all our university’s members, especially to my Coordinator, Ms. Ewa Domińczak, our Dean, Prof. Sebastian Kłosek, and Rector, Prof. Radzisław Kordek, for their constant support and commitment to fostering a vibrant educational environment.

Last but not least, I am eternally grateful to my family and friends for their love and encouragement. 

I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude for these remarkable individuals. I want to wish them all the best in life and once again, thank you all so much!”