Name:
Dr Barbara Stefanska
Organisation:
University of British Columbia
Year elected:
2024
Primary professional setting:
Barbara Stefanska is an Associate Professor of Nutriepigenomics at The University of British Columbia, Canada. Her area of expertise is epigenetic pharmacology with a particular focus on nutritional epigenomics. Dr. Stefanska completed a Master’s in Public Health and a PhD at Medical University of Lodz, Poland. During her postdoctoral training in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University, Canada, she was the first who established differential DNA methylation patterns in liver tumors, and determined novel therapeutic targets and potential diagnostic epigenetic biomarkers for liver cancer. Dr. Stefanska’s current research interest is to study dietary bioactive compounds, specifically polyphenols from the phytoestrogen group, as epigenetic targeting agents. She investigates mechanisms and downstream effects of phytoestrogens in targeting the writers, readers and erasers of epigenetic marks. Her goal is to understand how phytoestrogens exert their effects on cell biology and to develop new ways to target aberrant epigenetic processes. Dr. Stefanska has also served as Editor and Senior Editor of the British Journal of Pharmacology since 2011.