Dr. Malgorzata Borowiak returns to the MDC from Harvard

Dr. Malgorzata Borowiak, a researcher in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA, has been awarded a grant from the Helmholtz Association to return to the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, as head of a Young Investigators Group. At the MDC, which is a member of the Helmholtz Association, Dr. Borowiak aims to contribute to diabetes research by studying the molecular basis of beta cell development. These cells, which produce insulin, a hormone essential for life, are defective in diabetics. Dr. Borowiak will also cooperate with Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Dr. Borowiak holds a Master's degree in Biotechnology from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland and completed her doctoral work under the supervision of Professor Carmen Birchmeier (MDC/Freie Universität Berlin). She received her PhD degree in 2006 and then went to the U.S. for her postdoctoral work.

Altogether, this year the Helmholtz Association awarded Young Investigator grants to twenty early-stage researchers, ten of whom are women. They were selected from 226 applicants. With an annual budget of "at least 250, 000 euros over a period of five years and the prospect of gaining a tenure-track position", these grants, according to the Helmholtz Association, "are an ideal entry into a scientific career and are therefore attractive both for foreign applicants and for researchers who wish to return to Germany from a research stay abroad."

Half of the money will come from the Initiative and Networking Fund of the President of the Helmholtz Association and the other half from the research center at which the leader of the Young Investigators Group will work. Currently there are seven Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups at the MDC, including Dr. Borowiak's group.

Provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres