On October 4th, 2024, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, Professor Alojzy Z. Nowak appointed Professor Jacek Jemielity as the Director of CeNT for the term of office 2024-2028. Professor Jemielity specializes in organic and biological chemistry and biochemistry. He is one of the world leaders in research on chemically modified mRNA. He serves as the head of the Laboratory of Chemical Biology at CeNT UW.
He has implemented grants from, among others, the National Science Center and the Foundation for Polish Science (TEAM). He is the founder of the UW spin-off company ExploRNA Therapeutics, which received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is the co-creator of several technologies for mRNA modification for therapeutic purposes, and one of his inventions is used in several clinical trials. In the 2024-2028 term, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the FNP Council. He is a member of the Advisory Board Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids (Cell Press). He is also a member of many expert teams, an expert of research funding agencies and boards of scientific institutes.
For his achievements he has been awarded many times, including the “Polityka” Scientific Award for young scientists, the Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Awards of the Rector of the University of Warsaw. He was nominated for the European Inventor Award granted by the European Patent Office. In 2021 he received the Foundation for Polish Science Award in the field of chemical and materials sciences for developing chemical modifications of mRNA as tools for therapeutic applications and research on cellular processes.