SPEAKERS: Aleksandra Rusin, PhD

Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center

and the Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, Poland.

Dr Aleksandra Rusin is a research associate in Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and the Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, Poland. Dr Rusin’s interest is in preclinical studies of anticancer activity of natural product derived active compounds and their synthetic derivatives for treatment of a wide range of solid tumors in combination with chemo- or radiotherapy. Dr Rusin and colleagues have shown that proper derivatization of genistein with certain sugars alters their mode of action, turning them into agents with higher anticancer efficacy. Synthetic sugar derivatives of genistein interact with microtubules and represent a new class of antimitotic agents. Current research activities of her group are focused on the influence of isoflavonoids on cancer stem cell phenotype in 3D cancer cell cultures and long term survival of cells treated with combination of isoflavonoids and ionizing radiation.