Lukasz Kowalik

Mentors Bianxiao Cui and James K. Chen

Project Title Evolution of Optogenetic Probes

Bio

Lukasz comes from Poland, where he was fortunate enough to encounter great educators who encouraged his budding interest in chemistry. He received his undergraduate education at Trinity College, Cambridge, having studied Chemistry as a part of the Natural Sciences Tripos and used NMR to probe protein folding. Intrigued by the flexibility offered by American graduate programs, he pursued his PhD at the Rockefeller University in New York, ultimately discovering his passion for developmental neuroscience and doing his best to uncover the secrets of the inner ear. He came to Stanford to unite his interests in chemistry and developmental biology. 

Research Summary

I am interested in creating new photosensitive probes to study embryonic morphogenesis. We are evolving new proteins and domains that will allow us to inhibit and activate biomolecules in a developing embryo. In particular I am interested in early brain morphogenesis, and the mechanical states of cells that participate in it.