Dr Marcin Zagórski

Contact

Career

• since 2018 - Assistant Professor, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Jagiellonian University
• 2016 - Postdoc, Kicheva group, IST Austria
• 2013 - Postdoc, Bollenbach group, IST Austria
• 2013 - PhD in theoretical Physics, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University

Selected Distinctions

• 2022 - SONATA BIS 11 grant, National Science Centre (NCN) Poland
• 2020 - Scholarship for outstanding young researchers, Minister of Science and Higher Education
• 2019 - POLISH RETURNS grant, Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA)
• 2018 - SONATA 13 grant, National Science Centre (NCN) Poland
• 2014 - START award, Foundation of Polish Science (FNP)
• 2013 - ISTFELLOW fellowship, Marie Curie Actions, EU FP7
• 2009 - International PhD Projects Programme (MPD), FNP

Research

The development of multicellular organism is a remarkably reproducible process. Cells are exposed to chemical cues that pattern tissues to specify regions of different cell types that will later on give rise to distinct body parts. Despite the intrinsic stochasticity of signaling events and gene expression, at cellular level the signals are interpreted to establish cell fate with striking precision of a few cell diameters. How such remarkable precision is achieved is a fundamental question in biology that is still poorly understood.

My research is focused on unraveling biophysical mechanisms that result in the remarkably precise formation of gene expression patterns (cell fates) in developing organisms. I want to address questions: How is information decoded in developmental systems? What regulatory mechanisms affecting the intracellular signaling enhance patterning precision? How does feedback between source and target tissue alter pattern reproducibility?

To address these questions, I combine methods from theoretical physics with data driven analysis. I work closely with experimental labs that apply cutting-edge techniques to visualize mouse spinal cord formation (Kicheva lab, Briscoe lab). In many cases, the model predictions are verified experimentally bringing new insights about the underlying biological system.

Open positions

Prospective postdocs and students interested in doing a PhD, Master’s, or Bachelor’s within our group are welcome to contact me at marcin.zagorski[at]uj.edu.pl.

The list of current job openings is available at zagorskigroup.com/open-positions/.

Mentoring program

I organize mentoring program. The goal of the mentoring is to develop scientific potential of the mentee allowing the mentee to become a successful and independent researcher. The program is aimed for graduate students, PhD students, and postdocs. Contact me at marcin.zagorski[at]uj.edu.pl for more information.

Selected publications

• P. Guerrero, R. Perez-Carrasco, M. Zagorski, D. Page, A. Kicheva, J. Briscoe, K. M. Page, Neuronal differentiation influences progenitor arrangement in the vertebrate neuroepithelium, Development 146, dev176297 (2019).
• M. G. J. de Vos, M. Zagorski, A. McNally, T. Bollenbach, Interaction networks, ecological stability, and collective antibiotic tolerance in polymicrobial infections, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114, 10666-10671 (2017).
• M. Zagorski, Y. Tabata, N. Brandenberg, M. P. Lutolf, G. Tkačik, T. Bollenbach, J. Briscoe, A. Kicheva, Decoding of position in the developing neural tube from antiparallel morphogen gradients, Science 356, 1379-1383 (2017).
• M. Zagorski, Z. Burda, B. Waclaw, Beyond the Hypercube: Evolutionary Accessibility of Fitness Landscapes with Realistic Mutational Networks, PLOS Computational Biology 12, e1005218 (2016).
• O.C. Martin, A. Krzywicki, M. Zagorski, Drivers of structural features in gene regulatory networks: From biophysical constraints to biological function, Physics of Life Reviews 17, 124-158 (2016).
• Z. Burda, A. Krzywicki, O.C. Martin, M. Zagorski, Motifs emerge from function in model gene regulatory networks, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108, 17263-17268 (2011).