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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
3
AUGUST
2017
Profilee-at-a-Glance
Institution
University of Warsaw
Area of Research
biomolecular
recognition,
aminoglycoside antibiotics,
RNA dynamics, synthetic
oligonucleotides
Following her postdoc, Trylska returned to Poland
and started a group at the Interdisciplinary Centre
for Mathematical and Computational Modeling of
the University of Warsaw, whose resources she had
used as a graduate student. “First, I worked as an
adjunct, and after obtaining the habilitation degree
in 2009, as an associate professor,” she says. “Then
in 2012, a new institute — the Centre of New
Technologies — was established at the University
of Warsaw, where I moved and have been working
ever since.”
Her group works on the mechanisms of actions of
the compounds targeting bacterial RNA in order
to propose their derivatives or new compounds.
“These compounds are aminoglycosidic antibiot-
ics and synthetic oligonucleotides, mainly peptide
nucleic acids,” she explains. “We design peptide
nucleic acid sequences that target either bacte-
rial ribosomal RNA or mRNA by observing the
Watson-Crick pairing scheme. The ultimate goal
is to search for antibiotic analogs inhibiting the
function of bacterial RNA.”
One of her former students,
Julia Romanowska
,
shares that while in Trylska’s lab, she learned more
than only valuable scientific skills. “[She taught
me] how to do science! And that one needs to be
bold to succeed in the modern scientific world,”
she says. “She is dedicated to her work, and at the
same time knows how to enjoy her free time. She
sets her goals high and requires a lot both from
herself and co-workers, but I never had a feeling
of pressure, I never overworked. Such a balance is
normally very difficult to obtain.”
Her impact has not been limited to her students.
Cameron Mura
, a frequent collaborator whom
she met when both were postdocs in McCam-
mon’s lab, also says that Trylska has helped in his
development of both technical and non-technical
skills. “She taught me how to do careful pKa
calculations back at UCSD. To me, that spoke to
her collegiality and selflessness in helping others,”
he shares. “The less technical, but also important
thing: She advised me to write proposals in a way
that enables the reviewer to see, within the
proposal itself, the words that could be used
to champion the proposal, were they so
inclined. That seems obvious now, but it
wasn’t to me at the time.”
McCammon himself says, “She continues to
impress me with her remarkable and rather
courageous commitment to science. She
jumped from quantum chemical studies of
enzymes to coarse-grained simulations of
biomolecular complexes in our group, and
she has opened an experimental biophysics
program in her own group in Warsaw. She’s
much bolder than I am!”
When she’s not working, Trylska enjoys
reading and spending time with her eight
year old daughter and their Labrador
retriever. “We live close to a park, so in the
summer we often bike,” she says. “I also
like skiing and snowboarding. Recently my
daughter and I started horseback riding,
which is both relaxing and provides good
exercise.”
Mura shares, “Over the years, we’ve gotten
to know Dr. Trylska and her family, and simply
put, they are amazing people. I see Dr. Trylska as
having been equally successful in other areas of life
as she’s been in biophysics. I think this reflects her
great judgment in non-scientific areas, too, as well
as her ability to balance many streams of dedica-
tion — family, science, and career. I mention this
because I think it’s helpful for anyone embarking
on a professional career in biophysics to be cogni-
zant of this, and know that it’s possible.”
“
[She taught me] how to do
science! And that one needs
to be bold to succeed in the
modern scientific world
”
Trylska with her family at the
Kyoto Zoo.
Trylska and her husband on a
skiing trip.
— Julia Romanowska