Professor Barbara Kudrycka, the Minister of Science and Higer Education, welcomed newly appointed members of the Council of the National Centre for Science. 24 members of the Council were selected from over 500 candidates. Prof. Leszek Kaczmarek, one of the distinguished experts, will be representing Life Sciences in the Council.

Leszek Kaczmarek, M.Sc. 1981, Warsaw University (Biochemistry/Molecular Biology); Ph.D. 1983, Cell Biology/Experimental Hematology (supervisor: W.Wiktor-Jedrzejczak); D.Sc. (Dr. hab.) 1988, Biology/Experimental Oncology. At the Nencki Institute since 1986; head of the laboratory since 1988; full professor since 1996; chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, 1997-2003; chair of the Scientific Council, 2007-2010.

Over 170 publications in international peer reviewed journals, cited over 5 700 times, H-index = 42 (source ISI). Major research achievements: explanation of c-Myc role in regulation of the cell cycle; discovery of the learning-related gene expression in the mammalian brain; revealing apoptotic component of excitotoxicity in the adult brain; discovery of specific role of cyclin D2 in the adult brain neurogenesis; discovery of involvement of matrix metalloproteinases in neuronal plasticity, learning and memory as well as neuropsychiatric disorders; revealing specific role of central amygdala in appetitive learning.

Supervisor of 28 PhDs. Principal investigator in over 40 domestic and international grants. including UE Framework Programmes (7 projects), ERA-NET Neuron, The Wellcome Trust, ICGEB, INSERM, NATO. Invited lecturer at more than 100 international and national meetings and congresses, including 10th European Neurochemistry Society Meeting (Jerusalem, 1994); 17th Annual Meeting of the European Neuroscience Association (Wien, 1994); XXXIII International Congress of Physiological Sciences (St. Petersburg, 1997); Congresses of International Society for Neurochemistry, ISN: Boston, 1997, Cancun 2007; Federation of European Biochemical Societies, FEBS Lisbon 2001, Warsaw 2004, Prague 2009; Federation of European Neuroscience Societies FENS 2006 (Vienna), Society for Neuroscientists of Africa, SONA, Nairobi 2001, Cape Town, 2005, Sharm-El-Sheikh, 2009; 13th Annual Australian Neuroscience Meeting, Adelaide 2003; plenary talks at Polish, Slovenian, Russian & Croatian Neuroscience Meetings. Over 200 seminar & other invited talks. More than twenty memberships of program committees or session chairs during the international scientific meetings, including Program Committees for ISN 1999 & 2005, FENS 2004 & 2008, FEBS 2004.

Major Distinctions: 2009: Polonia Restituta Officer Cross (by the President of the Republic of Poland); 2001: Elected member of Academia Europaea; 2000: FNP (Foundation for Polish Science) Prize; 2000: Elected member of EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization); 1998: Elected corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, PAS; 1998: Polonia Restituta Bachelor Cross. Konorski Award (by Polish Neuroscience Society and Committee for Neurobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences) for the best Polish publication in neuroscience in: 2004; 2006; 2008. Scientific Award of the Division of Biological Sciences, PAS in 1994 and 2009.

2001-2002: Visiting Senior Fulbright Scholar, Department of Neurobiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 1994-1996, 1998: Visiting Professor, Dept. Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; 1987,1988,1990, 1992: Contract Professor, University of Catania, Italy. 1984-1986: Postdoc, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA (mentor: R. Baserga).

Active Participation in Professional Organizations: since 2010: member of the Council, National Center for Science, Poland; 2010-now: EMBO Council: member; 2010, 2011: Vice-President, European Molecular Biology Conference, EMBC; 2009-now: Section Editor “molecular neuroscience”, Neuroscience journal; . 2003-2007: Chair, Division for Biological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, PAS; ; 1999-2003 Chair, Committee for Neurobiology PAS; 2006-now: European Research Council, ERC: Member of the Neuroscience Starting Grants Panel; 2006-now: Academia Europaea: Member of the Medicine and Physiology Section; 2003-2007: EMBO: member of the Fellowship Committee; 2003-2005: International Brain Research Organization, IBRO: Member of the Executive Committee and Chair, Central and Eastern Europe Regional Committee; 1995-1999: International Society for Neurochemistry, ISN: Member of the Council; 1997-1999 Chair, Committee for Aid in Neurochemistry; 1995-1997: member of the Governing Board and Treasurer, Polish Neuroscience Society, 1997-1999 Vice-President; 1993-1995 chair, Committee for Scientific Policy, Polish Association for the Advancement of Science, 1995-1999 member of the Governing Board and Secretary;