Milena Jankowska, PhD

Milena Jankowska, PhD

Milena Jankowska (pronounced: mee-LEH-nah yan-KOV-skah) joined the Ke Dong Lab for the first time in 2022. During her six-month internship in the lab, she worked on an RNA editing project. Four years later, she returned to the lab, this time as a Research Scientist.

Her interest in insect neurophysiology began many years ago when, as a biotechnology student in Poland, she attended a Biophysics lecture by Prof. Maria Stankiewicz and learned about the effects of alpha-scorpion toxins on the cockroach nervous system. Fascinated by the topic, she joined Prof. Stankiewicz’s lab and has been doing electrophysiology ever since, combining insect physiology with biophysics.

She comes from beautiful Poland, where she obtained her PhD, working with Periplaneta americana, the American cockroach, as a model organism. Her research focused on the mode of action of monoterpenoids and how they can enhance the potency of conventional insecticides.

Currently, Milena is back to working on the RNA editing project, but she is also involved in other research on voltage-gated sodium channels and pore-forming proteins.

Email: milena.jankowska@duke.edu

ResearchGate: link

ORCID: link