Saying Goodbye to Ewelina Betleja

Ewelina Betleja loves to hike.

PhD postdoctoral fellow Ewelina Betleja is leaving the Division of Nephrology after nearly four years in the laboratory of Dr. Moe Mahjoub. Ewelina’s work has focused on how cells regulate the assembly of cilia, the essential cellular organelles that communicate with the extracellular environment. Ewelina will be moving to Greece to join her husband Andreas.

Dr. Mahjoub recruited Ewelina to join his laboratory soon after they met at a conference in San Francisco in late 2012. “Ewelina has been the backbone of my lab for the past 3-4 years,” says Dr. Mahjoub. “She is talented, bright, friendly, and always generous with her time when it comes to helping others in the lab. Socially, she has been the ‘glue’ that has made the lab a fun place to be and work in. Ewelina is highly motivated to succeed in science and has the passion, creativity, maturity and judgment to be a successful scientist.”

“At the end of my postdoctoral journey here at the Wash U, I would like to thank Moe for his great mentorship as a PI,” says Ewelina. “I found his lab to be a very friendly environment to grow as a scientist. Moe exposed me to many collaborative projects as well as cutting-edge microscopy techniques. I feel very grateful and privileged to be a part of Nephrology Division. I will never forget you! I will miss you all!”

Ewelina shared a photo of her new home town, Loutraki, in Greece where it snowed for the first time. The image at the top is Loutraki without snow.

Ewelina will be working alongside her husband at the company ZOONOMI, which specializes in the production and optimization of feed for the fish and animal industry. We wish Ewelina and her husband much success and good fortune in their new life.

We speak as one with Dr. Mahjoub when he says, “I’m going to miss her a lot, as will everyone else who’s had a chance to interact with her at WashU.”