Izabela Podgorski, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been named a 2022 Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellow.

The honor, established by the university's Board of Governors in 1985, recognizes and provides support for faculty whose continuing achievements and activities in scholarship, research or the fine and performing arts are nationally distinguished. The two-year fellowships are named for Charles H. Gershenson, a former member of the university's Board of Governors.

“I was truly humbled to be nominated and selected for this fellowship meant to recognize nationally distinguished achievements in scholarship and research,” said Dr. Podgorski, who also serves as co-leader of the Prostate Cancer Research Team at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. “Receiving this award is an incredible honor. I have been extremely fortunate to have wonderful research staff, students and collaborators who have helped me over the years develop a successful research program focused on understanding the biology of bone-metastatic cancers. This award, which really goes to everyone on my team, will allow us to explore new biological targets as potential treatment options for improved therapy, and hopefully, bring us closer to our ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients with metastatic prostate cancer.”

Dr. Podgorski joined the School of Medicine faculty in 2008.

Her primary research objectives are to identify molecular mechanisms underlying the association between bone marrow adiposity and metastatic prostate, breast and kidney cancers, and to pinpoint key factors responsible for aggressiveness and chemoresistance. Her studies involve models of lipolysis, patient-derived xenograft  models, 3D culture techniques and patient samples in combination with pharmacological and genetic manipulation, RNA-Seq and proteomic technologies, with the goal of providing translational insight into advancing current treatment options for bone-metastatic disease.