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Pawel Jaruga (Fed)
Research Chemist
Dr. Pawel Jaruga joined NIST as an employee in 2010 following three visits to the Biochemical Science Division, now Biomolecular Measurement Division, as a post-doctoral Guest Researcher in 1994-1996, 1997, and 2000-2010, hosted in the Laboratory of DNA Damage by NIST Fellow Miral Dizdaroglu.
Pawel received his Ph.D. and D.Sc. (Medical Biology) from Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz/Torun in Poland, and M.Sc. (Molecular Biology) from the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, University of Lodz, Poland.
His research in the DNA Damage Laboratory focuses on oxidative stress consequences in living organisms, especially DNA and RNA damage, and activities of DNA repair enzymes. Oxidative stress is produced in cells by oxygen- and nitrogen-derived species, including free radicals resulting from cellular metabolism and the impact of extracellular factors, e.g., carcinogenic compounds, redox-cycling drugs, and ionizing radiation. Free radicals cause DNA and RNA damage, which impacts the status of genes and disrupts RNA involvement in transcription and translation, as well as in numerous regulatory processes involving many types of RNA, which is associated with the development of multiple diseases, such as cancer, heart diseases, and age-related diseases. The work includes the development of methodologies and standards for the analysis of RNA and DNA damage in living cells to understand the role of oxidatively induced damage to nucleobases in disease processes. The primary measurement techniques used for this purpose are gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Pawel is also involved in researching DNA repair processes, depending on disease state, treatment with DNA-damaging agents, or the presence of inhibitors of DNA repair enzymes. He has co-authored 118 peer-reviewed publications and three book chapters.