Kinga Westphal PhD

Graduate of the Stationary Doctoral Program in Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of Gdansk, Poland.

In 2018, she defended with honors her dissertation entitled 'Radio- and photolysis of labeled DNA. From synthesis of modified oligonucleotides to sequence dependence of photodamage.' In 2022, she worked as Principal Investigator at the Foundation for Research and Development of Science, where she coordinated the work of four research teams. Her research career has included mechanisms of interaction of ionizing radiation with genetic material, qualitative analysis of exhaled to determine diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of hypertension, and development of new genetic screening tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. A former employee of the Medical University of Gdansk and trainee at Jackson State University. In 2017/2018 and 2023/2024 she worked at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as a visiting research fellow and senior research scientist.

• Mechanisms of radio- and photolysis of DNA
• Modern analytical methods in medical diagnostics
• Structural and functional relationships of macromolecules involved in protein misfolding processes that play a key role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases

• 1. Kinga Westphal, Karolina Michalska, Andrzej Joachimiak, Lukasz A. Joachimiak. “Mapping Hsp104 interactions using cross-linking mass spectrometry”. FEBS Open Bio (2025).
• 2. Katarzyna Kosowska, […], Kinga Westphal. 'Graphene Oxide (GO)-Based Bioink with Enhanced 3D Printability and Mechanical Properties for Tissue Engineering Applications.' Nanomaterials 14.9 (2024): 760.
• 3. Kinga Westphal, Danuta Dudzik, Małgorzata Waszczuk-Jankowska, Beata Graff, Krzysztof Narkiewicz, Michał J. Markuszewski. “Common strategies and factors affecting off-line breath sampling and volatile organic compounds analysis using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS).” Metabolites 2022, 13, 8.
• 4. Janusz Rak, Lidia Chomicz, Justyna Wiczk, Kinga Westphal, Magdalena Zdrowowicz, Paweł Wityk, Michał Żyndul, Samanta Makurat, Łukasz Golon. “Mechanisms of Damage to DNA Labeled with Electrophilic Nucleobases Induced by Ionizing or UV Radiation”. J. Phys. Chem. B. 2015, 119, 8227-8238.
• 5. Kinga Westphal, Justyna Wiczk, Gabriel Kciuk, Krzysztof Bobrowski, Janusz Rak. “Irreversible electron attachment – a key to DNA damage by solvated electrons in aqueous solution”. Org. Biomol. Chem., 2015, 13, 10362-10369.
• 6. Justyna Wiczk, Kinga Westphal, Janusz Rak. “Quantitative assay of photoinduced DNA strand breaks by real- time PCR”. J. Pharmaceut. Biomed. 2016, 128, 480-484.
• 7. Kinga Westphal, Konrad Skotnicki, Krzysztof Bobrowski, Janusz Rak. “Radiation damage to single stranded oligonucleotid trimers labelled with 5-iodopyrimidines”. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2016, 14, 9331- 9337.
• 8. Justyna Wiczk, Kinga Westphal, Danuta Leszczyńska, “Study of Photocatalytic Degradation of Organotin Adsorbed on Nanocomposite”. Zagadnienia Aktualnie Poruszane Przez Młodych Naukowców 2, Tom 2, 442- 444, Creativetime, Kraków 2015, ISBN: 978-83-63058-47-0.
• 9. Kinga Westphal, Justyna Wiczk, Danuta Leszczyńska, “DNA-Induced Changes in Carbon Nanotube Surface Detected by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)”. Zagadnienia Aktualnie Poruszane Przez Młodych Naukowców 2, Tom 2, 449-450, Wydawca: Creativetime, Kraków 2015, ISBN: 978-83- 63058-47-0.
• 10. Lidia Chomicz-Mańka, Paweł Wityk, Łukasz Golon, Magdalena Zdrowowicz, Justyna Wiczk, Kinga Westphal, Michał Żyndul, Samanta Makurat, Janusz Rak. “Consequences of electron attachment to modified nucleosides incorporated into DNA”. Springer, 2015.
• 11. Kinga Westphal, Magdalena Zdrowowicz, Anieszka Zylicz-Stachula, Janusz Rak. Chemically-enzymatic synthesis of photosensitive DNA”. J. Photoch. Photobio. B. 2017, 167, 228-235.
• 12. Kinga Westphal, Samanta Makurat, Janusz Rak. “The sequence dependence of photoinduced single strand break in 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine labeled DNA supports that electron transfer is responsible for the damage”. J. Phys. Chem. B., 2017, 121, 9169-9174