Biophysical Society Newsletter | August 2017

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2017

AUGUST

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!” “ [She taught me] how to do science! And that one needs to be bold to succeed in the modern scientific world ” — Julia Romanowska 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.”

Trylska with her family at the Kyoto Zoo.

Trylska and her husband on a skiing trip.

Profilee-at-a-Glance Institution University of Warsaw Area of Research biomolecular recognition, aminoglycoside antibiotics, RNA dynamics, synthetic oligonucleotides