prof. dr hab. inż. Piotr Paneth

My whole scientific life is devoted to learning mechanisms of chemical and biochemical reactions in order to advance basic science and, in the long run, to apply this knowledge in practice. The main tools that are used in my laboratory to achieve this goal are isotope effects – subtle changes in rates of reactions that lead to a change of isotopic composition. We measure them experimentally using isotope-ratio mass spectrometry, and predict them theoretically using quantum-chemical calculations. Over the years we have applied this methodology to studies of numerous chemical and biochemical processes important for understanding processes involved in different metabolism pathways, to medical problems in oncology and pharmacology, to food authentication, and to processes involved in environmental pollution.