Malgorzata Kloc-Stepkowska, Ph.D.

Malgorzata Kloc-Stepkowska, Ph.D.

	Malgorzata Kloc-Stepkowska, Ph.D. Associate Member The Methodist Hospital Research Institute Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University E-mail: mkloc@tmhs.org Phone: 713-441-6875
Education M.S.   University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, (Biology) Ph.D.   University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland (Zoology) Postdoctoral Training Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Chemistry, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Biography

Prior to completing her postdoctoral training in Canada, Dr. Kloc-Stepkowska was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Poland in Warsaw, Poland. She also served as a Research Associate in the Department of Biology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. While completing her postdoctoral training, Dr. Kloc-Stepkowska earned the AHFMR Research Award from the University of Calgary and the MRC Biotechnology Training Award from Dalhousie University. She joined the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as a Research Scientist in the Department of Molecular Genetics in 1987, and became an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology there in 2006. Dr. Kloc-Stepkowska joined The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in 2008.

Description of Research

Dr. Kloc-Stepkowska’s research focuses on investigations into the role of structural RNA in the organization of cellular cytoskeleton. She has numerous publications in the medical literature and her current studies are funded by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Kloc-Stepkowska also works closely with Dr. R. Mark Ghobrial on transplant immunomodulation studies using allochimeric molecules to improve transplant acceptance.

Major Areas of Research

Immunology, transplant biology, structural RNA, cytoskeleton

Recent Publications

Bilinski SM, Jaglarz MK, Dougherty MT, Kloc M (2010) Electron microscopy, immunostaining, cytoskeleton visualization, in situ hybridization, and three-dimensional reconstruction of Xenopus oocytes. Methods Dec 16. [Epub ahead of print]

Skelton TS, Tejpal N, Gong Y, Kloc M, Ghobrial RM (2010)Down regulation of RhoA and changes in T cell cytoskeleton correlate with the abrogation of allograft rejection. Transpl Immunol Jul 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Lisik W, Gong Y, Tejpal N, Skelton TS, Bremer EG, Kloc M, Ghobrial RM. (2010). Intragraft gene expression profile associated with the induction of tolerance by allochimeric MHC I in the rat heart transplantation model. Genesis 48(1):8-19

Tworzydlo W, Kloc M, Bilinski SM  (2009) Female germline stem cell niches of earwigs are structurally simple and different from those of Drosophila melanogaster J Morphol Dec 22. [Epub ahead of print]

Markowska, M., Bentkowski, P., Kloc, M., Pijanowska, J (2009). Presence of melatonin in Daphnia magna. Pineal Res 46:242-244

Tworzydlo W, Kloc M, Bilinski SM (2009) The Balbiani Body in the Female Germline Cells of an Earwig, Opisthocosmia silvestris. Zool Sci 26 (11):754-7.

Lisik W, Tejpal N, Gong Y, Skelton TS, Ganachari M, Bremer EG, Kloc M, Ghobrial RM (2009) Down regulation of genes involved in T cell polarity and motility during the induction of heart allograft tolerance by allochimeric MHC I. PLOS One  4 (12):e8020.