Congratulations to Dr. Agnė Vailionytė on the Successful Defense of Her Doctoral Dissertation!

Agnė Vailionytė, Junior Researcher and PhD candidate at the Department of Regenerative Medicine of the Innovative Medicine Center (IMC), successfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled “Micro- and Nanoplastic Particles in the Human Respiratory System: Analysis of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Samples and Their Effects on Bronchial Epithelial Cells In Vitro”, under the supervision of Dr. Rūta Aldonytė.

The dissertation addressed one of the most pressing environmental and public health challenges of our time – the impact of micro- and nanoplastic particles on the human respiratory system. The study detected microplastic particles in the majority of examined human lung samples and revealed their potential effects on respiratory epithelial cells and their functions.

This research makes an important contribution to our understanding of the still insufficiently explored effects of micro- and nanoplastic pollution on human health and opens new avenues for further studies in environmental and respiratory medicine.

We sincerely congratulate Dr. Agnė Vailionytė on this significant achievement and wish her continued success in her scientific career and future research endeavors for the benefit of public health!