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URSULA JAWORSKA
In 1997 , she was the first patient in Poland to undergo a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.
This pioneering procedure in the history of Polish medicine took place at the Hematology Clinic of the Silesian Medical University in Katowice,
and the procedure was performed by Professor Jerzy Hołowiecki and his team. While still a patient, she became the Founder of the Urszula Jaworska Foundation.
It was these experiences of fighting for one's own life that determined the creation of the foundation, which since 1997 has been actively helping cancer patients, leukemia patients, MS patients, hepatitis C patients, conducting educational and information campaigns in the media and pro-patient systemic changes in healthcare. For many years, the organization was also the largest in terms of the number of registered people - Bone Marrow Donor Bank in Poland. It is thanks to the personal involvement of Urszula Jaworska and the entire foundation team that the idea of bone marrow donation has become so popular in Poland. The foundation's register currently includes over 11,000 bone marrow donors.
Despite her many duties, she tries to combine her work in the foundation with supporting other organizations, including OFOP and other patient associations. For many years, she has been actively involved in the Patient Rights Ombudsman and in the Expert Committee for Health at the Ombudsman. In the ranking of the Puls Medycyny list of one hundred most influential people in the Polish healthcare system in 2019 , she was ranked 14th . Since February 2018 , she has participated in the work of the Health Committee of the National Chamber of Commerce. Since 2021 , she has been the chairwoman of the working group for patient needs, which operates within the Scientific Working Group of the Medical Research Agency. In April 2022 , she was appointed to the Council of Patient Organizations at the minister responsible for health. She is a Member of the Management Board of the Society for Quality Promotion for the years 2022-2026 . In May 2023, she was appointed by the Minister of Health as a member of the Supreme Bioethics Commission for Clinical Trials.
Graduate of the State Ballet School in Warsaw, student of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw at the Faculty of Ballet Pedagogy. Dancer and soloist, as well as manager of many important ballet companies, including: Syrena, Sabat, Mazowsze. In 1994 , she was diagnosed with cancer - leukemia. While still a patient, who was the first in Poland to have a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor, she became the Founder of the Urszula Jaworska Foundation. She actively participates in organizing activities aimed at broadly understood help for people suffering from leukemia, other cancers and chronic diseases. She attaches great importance to raising the level of knowledge in society about cancer.
EWA PLĄSEK
She has been supporting the Foundation as a volunteer for many years. A dozen or so years ago, she decided to enter the world of medicine, mainly the difficult field of oncology. Patient rights – both small and large – have become an inseparable element of her everyday life. Thanks to her personal involvement, many fundraising events have been successful, enabling treatment in accordance with the latest medical knowledge, both in reference centers in the country and abroad.
In 2016 , she first appeared in the operating room as a member of the surgical team during an irreversible electroporation procedure for unresectable liver cancer using NanoKnife technology. Since then, she has actively participated in approximately 150 procedures using NanoKnife technology to treat unresectable pancreatic, liver and prostate cancers.
In 2020 , when the world was gripped by the pandemic, she helped medical workers, actively promoted the necessity and justification for universal trust in science and the universal vaccination program against Covid-19. The knowledge, experience and contacts acquired during this time allowed her in February 2022 , when the war broke out in Ukraine, to stand as one of thousands of volunteers to effectively support war refugees, among whom were also people with active cancer diseases.
For many years, she has been organizing events for patients of oncology departments and clinics, including for children treated at the Department of Oncology and Oncological Surgery for Children and Youth at the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw. In February 2023 , she received the Honorary Badge "For Merit in Health Care" from the Minister of Health - for many years of social activity for the sick and needy. Since May 2024, she has been a member of the Bioethics Committee at the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw.
Associated with the Foundation since 2003. He directs the work of the Bone Marrow Donor Registry and the Foundation Office.
Together with the Foundation team, he is involved in all projects implemented by the Foundation, in particular: systemic changes, social campaigns and workshops for patients. He is a co-author of reports prepared by the Foundation, including those on multiple sclerosis and diabetes and the development of data on long-term care for the World Bank.
Co-author of the website https://pacjentwbadaniach.abm.gov.pl and the application for patients, participants of clinical trials at the University Clinical Research Support Center in Poznań.
After over twenty years of working for the Foundation, he has been actively working for thousands of patients both within the Foundation and many external institutions to which he is delegated on behalf of the Foundation.
MARIUSZ BŁASZCZYK
SEBASTIAN GAWLIK
For many years involved in educational activities in the HCV area. Author of the blog www.hcvtoniewyrok.com and the nationwide
#CzasNasGoni educational campaign, which he runs on social media under the character of Mr. Liver.
Co-author of the Foundation's system health reports, information service https://pacjentwbadaniach.abm.gov.pl
and an application supporting patients – participants of clinical trials conducted at the Clinical Research Support Center
in Poznań. In 2017, he hosted his own program about health , "Zoom na zdrowie", produced and broadcast
through the Internet TV Słodki Live. Currently, he shares his knowledge about health during online meetings via
social media, and also represents our Foundation at many congresses and conferences
and other events organised in Poland and abroad.
In 2018-2020, as part of the #łączynaspacjent project, he took part in expert shifts on the Patient Rights Ombudsman’s hotline.
In 2023-2024 he participated in the work of the Telemedicine Round Table established by the Ministry of Health.
Since 2023 , as a patient representative, he has been preparing opinions on applications for medical permits for the Supreme Bioethics Committee for clinical trials in Poland.
