Aleksandra (Ola) Wierzba

  Education

Institute of Organic Chemistry Polish Academy of Sciences (2014 - 2018)
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry
Research: Chemical modifications of vitamin 12 at the meso position and within the nucleotide loop. Exploring the potential of vitamin B12 as a delivery vehicle for antibacterial oligonucleotide analogues.

Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (2009 - 2014)
M. Eng. Chemistry of Organic Compounds and Polymers
Research: Development of catalytic methods enabling regioselective 1,4 and 1,6-addition of sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen nucleophiles to electron-deficient conjugated dienes.

  Research

I'm working on improving the cobalamin-based probes for visualizing of RNA in live mammalian cells. I'm focusing on exploring peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) as linkers between cobalamin and the fluorophore within the Riboglow platform. The installation of a specifically-designed PNA linker would result in sequence-specific binding to the RNA, hence leading to the separation of the fluorophore from the quencher which could further promote dequenching. The ultimate goal is to encourage widespread utility of the Riboglow platform.

  About Me

I'm an organic chemist trying to find my place in a complex biological world. When not consumed with laboratory work, I love to spend my time outdoors. Biking, hiking, traveling, and musical theater are things I absolutely adore, and beautiful Colorado allows me to do all of these things!