The best implementation PhD in Poland will be carried out at Łukasiewicz — PORT
We are proud to announce that the implementation PhD project of Martyna Skuła from the Łukasiewicz — PORT Astrocyte Biology Research Group led by Dr. Michał Ślęzak has been classified in the first place in the ranking list in the “Implementation Doctorate 2024” program of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
The aim of Martyna’s research is to identify the neurobiological mechanisms underlying behavioral changes caused by chronic stress, the main risk factor for the development of mental illnesses. The project involves the development of tools based on artificial intelligence for integrated analysis in order to obtain precise information about brain function disorders. The key innovation includes the integration of wireless EEG signal recording with the existing system for automatic behavior analysis, which uses video image analysis based on deep machine learning. The coherent technology will allow for pioneering correlation of physiological and behavioral parameters in a minimally invasive way, limiting the human influence on the results of experiments. The resulting system will enable precise phenotyping of animals in preclinical studies, including significantly increasing the accuracy of assessing the effectiveness of antidepressants.
The introduction of advanced artificial intelligence techniques to preclinical studies has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, including depression, which affects millions of people worldwide. The new methods that will be developed as part of this interdisciplinary project will find application in European research projects, such as HE Twinning SAME-NeuroID and HE Teaming P4HEALTH, coordinated by Łukasiewicz — PORT, as well as significantly enrich PORT’s experimental portfolio for commercial partners.
Martyna Skuła is a biology and bioinformatics graduate, fascinated by neurobiology. In her research, she intends to combine traditional laboratory techniques with modern computer tools, such as deep machine learning, to explore the impact of chronic stress on the brain and behavior. Her research will be of great importance for a better understanding of the mechanisms of stress, which is a risk factor for many serious mental disorders, such as depression.
The PhD student’s work will be supervised by scientists from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology: prof. Joanna Rymaszewska (Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine) and prof. Tomasz Kajdanowicz (Department of Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Computer Science and Telecommunications) and dr Michał Ślęzak (Łukasiewicz — PORT).