Karolina holds a 1st Class Hons Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology from Jagiellonian University, Poland, and a PhD in applied immunobiology from Newcastle University. Her early research explored autoimmune liver disease, followed by studies on mitochondrial and immune changes in age-related muscle disorders at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Disease.

She then moved into industry, spending four years at Immunocore as Publication Manager and Senior Scientist in cancer immunotherapy and spatial biology, before taking a Senior Scientist/Project Coordinator role at the University of Oxford in small molecule drug discovery.

After a career break to raise a family, Karolina has returned to research as a Daphne Jackson Fellow, funded by the Royal Society. Her project focuses on establishing spatial immunopeptidomics in colorectal cancer to support the identification and validation of oncology targets for immunotherapy. The Daphne Jackson Fellowship scheme has provided her with an incredible opportunity to establish a niche in spatial biology, with the prospect of running her own independent research in the future.