Transforming Medicine with Dr. Agnieszka Czechowicz

Dr. Agnieszka Czechowicz is driven by her passion for making an impact and changing the way that care is provided. Throughout her career she has taken science and translated it into medicines, many of which are having helping patients. Agnieszka has worked with a wide range of companies, from those that do gene editing to those that focus on hearing and balance disorders. However, her main area of research is in the field of hematopoietic stem cells. In today’s episode, Agnieszka explains the importance of these cells, and the benefits of the hematopoietic stem cells transplants. Agnieszka’s interest in transplant medicine began at a young age, and her passion for the field continues to grow year after year. Tune in today to hear about how Agnieska is contributing to the transformation of the medical field!

“We showed that your own stem cells compete for space with the transplanted stem cells in a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation process.” — @aneeshka Key Points from this Episode

• An overview of Dr. Agnieszka Czechowicz’s incredible career.
• Where Agnieszka’s interest in transplant medicine originated.
• What keeps Agnieszka motivated, despite the challenges of being a physician scientist.
• The power of hematopoietic stem cells.
• An explanation of the two bone marrow failure syndromes that Agnieszka specializes in.
• Discoveries that Agnieszka made many years ago when conducting research into hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
• Problems with the genotoxic conditioning that is used prior to bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
• The mission of Magenta Therapeutics, of which Agnieszka is a co-founder.
• Feedback on progress that Magenta Therapeutics is making.
• The potentially transformative power of agent CD117 ADC.
• How agents developed by Magenta Therapeutics can be used in gene editing and gene therapy.
• Agnieszka’s involvement with Jasper Therapeutics, and the therapy that they are currently working on.
• Interventions that Agnieszka believes will cause a profound reduction in graft versus host diseases.
• Work that Agnieszka has done for Third Rock Ventures.
• Some of bluebird bio’s achievements and setbacks.
• Agnieszka’s involvement with Editas, Decibel Therapeutics, and Beam Therapeutics (and where the name Beam came from).
• Ex vivo versus in vivo manipulation techniques.
• What drives Agnieskza to do the work that she does.
• Agnieszka’s passion for women’s health.