Dr. Kowalski is an HRB funded Emerging Investigator for Health and a Senior lecturer in advanced therapies at the School of Pharmacy, University College Cork. He received his Master’s degree in Biochemistry in 2009 from Jagiellonian University, Poland. He then moved to the Netherlands to earn his PhD from Groningen University, focusing on the development of lipid-based systems for selective delivery of siRNA to inflamed endothelium. Subsequently, he received his postdoctoral training at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the laboratories of Prof. Daniel Anderson and Prof. Robert Langer. His multidisciplinary research focused on engineering novel biomaterials to enable the delivery of messenger RNAs to treat inflammatory diseases, cancer, and diabetes. After his postdoc, Dr. Kowalski joined an early-stage biotechnology company, Senda Bioscience, Inc., where he gained experience in the development and commercialization of next-generation nano-medicines. Dr. Kowalski has been the recipient of several international scholarships and awards and his work resulted in a number of high-impact publications, the co-invention of several patents on RNA delivery technologies, and the creation of a US-based biotech startup (Orna therapeutic Inc.). He has recently won a highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant to elucidate the therapeutic potential of the new class of circular RNAs. Dr Kowalski is also member of the GENEGUT EU consortium aiming to create first-in-class oral RNA therapy. Currently he leads a diverse multidisciplinary team of five PhD students, two research assistants and one postdoc.

I have a great interest in multidisciplinary biomedical research aimed at improving human health. My research is centered on developing Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs), in particular, novel clinically relevant drug delivery technologies for parental and non-parental applications to facilitate effective nucleic acid-based therapies aimed at high medical need diseases that lack effective treatment.

 Current work in my group focuses on engineering RNA-based therapeutics for the treatment of sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer. We aim to explore the therapeutic potential of RNA molecules (such as short interfering RNAs, messenger RNAs and circular RNAs) to treat and prevent multiple organ failure during sepsis by delivering these new class of RNA-based drugs to diseased cells to change the way the disease affects a patient's organs.

Key research areas: nanotechnology drug delivery biomaterials engineering gene therapy.

My teaching philosophy is founded on four key principles: 1) become a role model for student interest and motivate them to understand and apply fundamental concepts 2) help students to develop critical thinking skills 3) promote unbiased, inclusive and collaborative environment 4) motivate student to further develop their skills and knowledge to challenge existing concepts. I am interested in teaching cross-disciplinary courses on drug delivery and pharmaceutics of Advanced Medicinal Therapy Products, and applying novel teaching and learning methods to deliver course content.

Courses taught at the School of Pharmacy: PF6405 - Biologics and Advanced Therapies - Pharmaceutical strategies, undergraduate course; PF6029 - Biotechnology-derived & Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, postgraduate course in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Sciences; PF6301 - Biopharmaceuticals: Formulation Design, Secondary Processing and Regulatory Compliance; PF6205 - Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; PF4014 - Central Nervous System; PT4024 - Current Topics in Pharmacology, postgraduate course - guest lecturer; ML6002 - Biological and Clinical Perspectives of Human Disease - guest lecturer.