Who is who in the Foundation
People are the most important assets of the Foundation. Thanks to them that the Foundation spreads the idea of breast milk banking, co-creates new milk banks and supports mothers.
Meet the Foundation team.
President of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Aleksandra Wesołowska, PhD
Researcher at the Medical University of Warsaw, Department of Medical Biology , Health Sciences Department, head of the University Laboratory of Research on Human Milk and Lactation at the Regional Milk Bank at the St. Family Specialized Hospital in Warsaw, President and co-founder, of the established in 2010 Human Milk Bank Foundation. Winner of the prestigious T. Sendzimir Award from the Kosciuszko Foundation for the project to reactivate milk banks in Poland (2008) and the award of the Minister of Science and Higher Education (2019) for outstanding scientific and scientific-technical achievements in the category of research for the benefit of society (2018).
Member of the Board of Directors of the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA), member of the Scientific Council of the United Kingdom Association of Milk Banks, (UKAMB). Member of the Patient Needs Group with the President of the Medical Research Agency. Advocate for access to participation in clinical trials and safe pharmacotherapy.
Author of numerous articles and lectures in the media on the idea of a human milk banks and how such facilities operate in Poland and abroad, the relationship of milk composition to diet and environmental factors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she and a nationwide team undertook research on the risk of infecting a child by a mother with COVID-19 and the impact of changes in maternal care resulting from the pandemic on maternal and child well-being and nutrition. Manager of the humanitarian project entitled” Support and promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate feeding practices for infants and young children of Ukrainian and Polish mothers in Poland in a crisis situation on behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF.
Scientific Council of the Foundation
Chairwoman of the Scientific Council of the Foundation
Gabriela Olędzka, PhD
Gabriela Olędzka, Ph.
Academic teacher, biologist, since 2013 head of the Department of Medical Biology at the Medical University of Warsaw. She is the author of many scientific publications in national and international periodicals and promoter of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral theses. She has participated in research internships in New Zealand (2002-2005), Spain (2015) and Portugal (2018). Visiting professor at the University of La Laguna in Spain (2019 and 2021). She mainly teaches microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics in medical sciences. Her areas of research interest are the search for new compounds that can exhibit biological and pharmacological activity against pathogenic microorganisms, particularly those with the ability to form biofilms. Bioactive components present in breast milk are also the subject of her research Gabriela Olędzka, PhD, is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA), the Polish Society of Parasitology and the Polish Society of Microbiologists.
Chairwoman of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Professor Maria Katarzyna Borszewska-Kornacka, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Warsaw Medical University. Pediatrician and neonatologist with nearly 50 years of experience in these fields. Graduated from the Medical University of Poznan in 1972 and worked in the Department of Neonatology at the Medical University of Poznan (1972-2000). From 2000-2018, she headed the Department of Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care at the Princess Anna Mazowiecka Clinical Hospital of the Medical University of Warsaw. She served two terms as president of the Polish Society of Neonatology (2011-2019). During this time, three editions of “Standards of Medical Care of the Newborn in Poland” were published.
Wieloletni konsultant w dziedzinie neonatologii w województwie mazowieckim. Członek Krajowego Nadzoru w dziedzinie Neonatologii, Państwowej Komisji Egzaminacyjnej do specjalizacji w dziedzinie neonatologii oraz przewodnicząca Wojewódzkiego Zespołu do spraw Polskiego Rejestru Wrodzonych Wad Rozwojowych.
Przez wiele lat związana z Krajowym Funduszem na Rzecz Dzieci. Jest koordynatorem polskiego programu neonatologicznego i edukacyjnego programu dla neonatologów ukraińskich amerykańskiej organizacji Children’s Medical Care Foundation. W 2012 r. powołała Koalicję dla Wcześniaka – forum edukacyjne dla rodziców dzieci przedwcześnie urodzonych, która od 2020 r. jest członkiem The European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI).
Profesor Maria Katarzyna Borszewska-Kornacka jest przewodniczącą Rady Naukowej Fundacji Bank Mleka Kobiecego od początku istnienia tej organizacji. W 2021 r. została honorowym członkiem Europejskiego Stowarzyszenia Banków Mleka (ang. European Milk Bank Association EMBA).
Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Dr. Beata Pawlus, M.D., PhD
Neonatologist, pediatrician, ethicist of medical practice and medical care, consultant of the Mazovian province in the field of neonatology, director for treatment at the Holy Family Specialized Hospital in Warsaw. Since the beginning of her career, she has been involved with the smallest patients, newborns, premature babies and their parents. Since 2005, she has been the head of the Neonatology Department of the Holy Family Specialized Hospital. In the ward she heads, a Regional Human Milk Bank was established for the Mazovian province, of which Dr. Beata Pawlus is a clinical consultant Dr. Beata Pawlus is a member of the Polish Society of Neonatology, the Polish Society of Perinatal Medicine and the Commission on Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and Immunization in the Sanitary and Epidemiological Council at the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate. She teaches at the Medical Center for Postgraduate Education in Warsaw and at the Faculty of Medicine of Lazarski University in Warsaw. She is the author of scientific publications and book chapters on neonatology, lactation and breastfeeding, medical ethics, as well as popular science texts on child development in the earliest period of life.
Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Monika Słupecka-Ziemilska, PhD
She is employed as a professor in the Clinical and Research Team of Human Epigenetics at the Mirosław Mossakowski Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. She studies the process of developmental programming, with a special focus on epigenetic mechanisms. She has been studying human milk and colostrum for many years. Author and co-author of many scientific publications on such topics as the role of colostrum and milk in the development of the gastrointestinal tract and metabolic programming of offspring. Popularizer of science. Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation.
Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Urszula Bernatowicz-Łojko, M.D., PhD
Neonatologist, lactation consultant IBCLC, works at the Ludwik Rydygier Regional Hospital in Toruń – “Baby Friendly Hospital” (in the Neonatal and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, in the lactation clinic, in the breastfeeding support group, as a medical consultant of the human milk bank). She was the initiator and coordinator of the Breastfeeding and Breastmilk Promotion Program in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province in 2010. A board member of the Breastfeeding Popularization Committee and the international association of doctors promoting breastfeeding of children, The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, for several years she has participated in the deliberations of the international group of specialists involved in the organization of human milk banks in the European Milk Bank Association EMBA.
She is co-author of the Human Milk Bank Foundation’s program “We have milk for the premature baby in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province,” the implementation of which led to the opening of a human milk bank in Toruń. It was the first regional facility in Poland.
Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Sławomir Watroba, PhD
neonatologist, head of the Neonatal Department of the Independent Public Health Care Center in Puławy. A graduate of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of the Medical University of Lublin and postgraduate studies Executive Master of Business Administration conducted in cooperation with Apsley Business School in London. He has a Good Clinical Principles (GCP) certificate authorizing him to conduct and manage clinical trials. Performs ultrasound and echocardiographic examinations of newborns. Author of many publications on the activity of enzymes from the group of extracellular matrix metalloproteinases in pathologies of the neonatal period.
Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Justyna Domosud, PhD.
neonatologist, co-founder and manager of the Human Milk Bank in Lublin, graduate of the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical University of Lublin and the Executive Master of Business Administration postgraduate studies conducted in cooperation with Apsley Business School in London. Dr. Domosud is certified in Good Clinical Principles (GCP), authorizing to conduct and manage clinical trials. Since 2011, she has been performing ultrasound examinations in newborns. She works as a senior assistant in the Newborns and Premature Babies Department at SPSK1 in Lublin.
Member of the Scientific Council of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Jarosław Woliński, PhD
Assistant Professor at the Department of Endocrinology, Jan Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences Jablonna. He studies the process of gastrointestinal development in newborn mammals and the regulation of gastrointestinal motility. Particularly interested in research of applied importance, his unique model of “artificial sow” makes it possible to conduct research on newborn piglets. The results of Dr. Jaroslaw Wolinski’s research lead to the elucidation of many complications of the neonatal period in humans and provide evidence in favor of feeding children with species-specific milk.
He is the author of many scientific papers published both abroad and in Poland. Dr. Jaroslaw Wolinski is the recipient of many prestigious awards and scientific prizes, and his work has earned him several patents.
Foundation Board
Chairwoman of the Board of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Izabela Paczesna
One of the founders of the Human Milk Bank Foundation, she was among the initiators of the movement for the safe sharing of human breast milk in Poland. She has supported the Foundation organizationally since its inception.
Participant of conventions and conferences on lactation and breast milk,
Editor and travel guide. Mom of six children.
Human Milk Bank Foundation Board Member
Aleksandra Kruk
Board member of the Human Milk Bank Foundation
Pharmacist and entrepreneur, owner of a chain of pharmacies. Scientifically interested in the effects of certain psychoactive drugs on lactation and breastfeeding.
Privately a lover of beauty and art. Mom of four children.
Member of the Human Milk Bank Foundation Council
Elena Sinkiewicz-Darol, M.D., PhD
Biotechnologist with a specialization in medical biology obtained at the Mirosław Mossakowski Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Since 2013, head of the Regional Human Milk Bank at the Ludwik Rydygier Regional Hospital in Toruń, and since 2021 a researcher at the Department of Physiology and Toxicology at Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz. In 2016-2017, an associate of the University Laboratory for Research on Human Milk and Lactation at the Regional Human Milk Bank at the St. Family Specialized Hospital in Warsaw, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Warsaw Medical University.
She is the author of many scientific papers and conference reports on research on human milk composition and the idea of human milk banks in Poland. Her research focuses on bioactive components, microbiota and contaminants of breast milk, factors determining their content and their role in the baby’s body.
Since 2012, she has volunteered with the Human Milk Bank Foundation, and is currently a member of the Foundation’s Board. She is a member of the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA) and the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML).
Supporting Mothers in Appropriate Feeding of Children in Crisis Project team
The Project team member
Magdalena Babiszewska-Aksamit, PhD.
Coordinator of educational activities of the project
Scientist and communications and promotion specialist. A physical anthropologist and evolutionary biologist, she is scientifically engaged in the study of breast milk composition in relation to biological and psychological factors of the mother. She studied at the University of Wroclaw and the University of Liverpool (UK). She has carried out numerous research projects at, among others, the University of York (UK) and the Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw.
Dr. Magdalena Babiszewska-Aksamit has extensive and long-standing experience in external communication, popularization of science and cooperation with the media, organization of events (such as press conferences, congresses, shows) both as a coordinator of promotional activities and as an expert.
Mom of Sophie Michalina and a staunch promoter of long breastfeeding.
The Project team member
Małgorzata Płachecka
The Project team member
Joanna Kocot
Long-time consul of the Republic of Poland in Lviv. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, she was involved in humanitarian aid there, including coordinating the delivery of birthing packages for Ukrainian women who might have given birth in a shelter, basement or subway. After completing her mission in Lviv and returning to Poland, she continues to be professionally involved in social and aid topics.
Mother of four children, for whom Lviv and Ukraine are the first home. Although they were born in Poland, the two younger ones lived there from their first days, so Joanna is well versed in the topics of motherhood, lifestyle, approach to birth and parenting in the culture of our neighbors.
The Project team member
Dominika Sawczuk
Finance specialist with extensive experience working with NGOs and the third sector in general. She managed, among others, the SOS Food Bank Foundation in Warsaw. A volunteer, she is eager to take action to improve the lives of the smallest, young, middle-aged and senior citizens alike. Involved in the activities of her local community, as well as city-wide and national. She acquires her knowledge and way of doing things during trips abroad. She believes that every action we take changes the world locally and globally.
The Project team member
Małgorzata Gawrońska
Sociologist, PhD student at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw since 2020, graduate of the MISH College where she combined sociology with law and elements of bioethics. Author and co-author of scientific articles published in national and international journals. She conducts research at the Warsaw University Department of Sociology. Manager of the project “White Market. Institutionalizing Human Milk Sharing Practices in Europe” funded by the National Science Center. Her research work focuses on the process of institutionalization of human milk sharing in modern societies, taking into account the influence of cultural factors. In her doctoral project, which deals with the relationship between law and society at the level of social production of law and the practical effects of different regulatory models, she combines the methodology of legal science and sociology. She has been working with the Human Milk Bank Foundation since 2019. She was involved in the project “The health-promoting significance of milk sharing” funded by the National Agency for Academic Exchange, which included a study visit to Dublin City University. She collaborated in the Foundation’s intervention research on the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, as a grantee of the “PhDo” program of the Shipyard Foundation and the Polish-American Freedom Foundation, she participates in the Foundation’s scientific and expert activities related to human milk legislation and the challenges of infant feeding in emergency situations.
