BIO
Agata Kurzyk
is a cellist and composer. She was a student in the Postgraduate Composition Studies at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, under the supervision of Professor Krzysztof Knittel. With her performances, she proves that it is possible to blend the classical beauty of the cello with electronics, extracting the sound and dynamics of an entire orchestra from a single instrument. By employing motif looping techniques using a looper, the sonic layering expands polyphonically. Overlapping rhythms and harmonies transport the listener into a different acoustic dimension.
In 2012, she became the Champion of Poland and Eastern Europe (Budapest), and in 2013, she was a finalist in the BOSS Loop Station World Championship 3 (Anaheim, USA). She has received an art scholar of the City of Warsaw – creator of project Cello Among City Centre Streets (2013), and special guest at the Stoff Fringe Festival (Stockholm, 2013) and a winner of the award for the best artist of the Stoff Sopot Fringe Festival (2012). In the same year, she started cooperation with Roland Polska and became an ambassador of Boss Loop Station. Agata creates music for films and TV shows. n 2018 the Best Music Award for the TV show “Carried away” dir. by Michał Szcześniak during the Teatroteka Fest Festival 2018, in 2020 awarded Jantar 2020 for Music to the feature film “Fisheye”, dir. Michał Szcześniak (Young and Film Festival, Koszalin, 2020). In 2021, she composed music for the short film “Synthol” directed by Piotr Trojan and the TV Theatre production “Polowanie na karaluchy” by Janusz Głowacki, dir. Michał Szcześniak( 2022).
A passionate advocate for performing in unconventional venues and outdoor settings (StreetDust project). Agata has graced locations such as the Royal Łazienki Park in Warsaw, the Cloth Hall in Krakow, the beach in Sopot, and the rooftop of Kulturhustaket in Stockholm with her music. She collaborates with Polish painters, filmmakers and young musicians from the border of electronic music and hip-hop.
She draws inspiration from science in her work, for example composing pieces based on cell division.
Agata Kurzyk is also a scientist. She is a biotechnologist and graduate of the Lodz University of Technology. She completed her internship at Mabion and worked at the the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences as a molecular biologist. She worked as a lead specialist/young doctor at the Biomaterials Research Group of the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials in Warsaw. Currently, she works as an assistant professor at the Department of Tumor Biology at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology.
In 2019, Agata Kurzyk defended her doctoral thesis with distinction on the use of mesenchymal stem cell isolated from adipose tissue for the construction of polymer-cellular scaffolds for the regeneration of bone defects of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology. Her doctoral thesis was also honored with the 2020 Director’s Award for the best defended doctoral thesis in 2019 and the Prime Minister’s Award for the best doctoral dissertation contributing significantly to the development of science.
Dr. Kurzyk’s research focuses on stem cell and cancer biology, as well as the development of new biomaterials and their application in regenerative medicine and biomedical engineering. In 2021, she conducted a scientific internship at Prof. A. Mazzocca’s laboratory at the University of Bari in Italy, thanks to a scholarship from the Jakub Potocki Foundation.
She worked on project such as for example: Bioimplant, whose purpose was to study and prepare to do implementation of innovative tissue engineering products scaffolds, supporting the recovery and reconstruction of extensive bone tissue defects that arise as a result of tumor removal; transplantation of autologous fat – along with isolated stem cells from adipose tissue, in order to reconstruct the breast of a breast cancer patient after mastectomy; angiogenesis, 3D culture. At the Łukasiewicz Research Network – ICIMB, Dr. Kurzyk developed multifunctional biologically active materials based on biodegradable polymer and modified nanohydroxyapatite. She has two applications patents.
At the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, she leads a project dedicated to developing a multicellular three-dimensional model of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin based on an innovative 3D bioprinting method. The model will be used to assess tumor response to drugs.
She popularizes science through artistic endeavors and is a member of the The Spokesmen of Science since 2016, as a board member from 2022 to 2023. She has participated actively in conferences like World Summit on the Global Summit of Women and Female Youth Forum Global Summit of Women (2016). Dr. Kurzyk has spoken at numerous popular science conferences, including TEDx Warsaw University of Technology (2016), Lean in STEM Conference (2016), Congress of Women (2016), and Meet Biotech – Boost Biotech (2015). She was a guest on many projects such as the “Project Alpha” program, “Copernicus Was a Woman” (2021). She is laureate of the TopMinds training and mentoring program (2018), organized by Fulbright POLAND, Top 500 Innovators, 2018, and a winner of the team competition for project works TopMinds 2018 in the category PRODUCT (Read Me – designing an application for book exchange between users – traditional, audiobooks, and Braille written books). She obtained trademark protection for the Read Me product, awarded by the Bury & Bury Patent Law Firm in Warsaw – a special prize for the Read Me product (2018).
Agata was included in the list of “22 Polish Women to Watch in 2022” by Forbes Women Poland. In the same year, she was awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit for outstanding contributions to the development of oncology and healthcare. In 2023, she became a laureate of the Shesnnovation Academy incubation program for startups created by women.