Pawel Stankiewicz

Pawel Stankiewicz, M.D., Ph.D., is a tenured Professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and concurrently serves as Assistant Laboratory Director of the Cytogenetics Laboratory at Baylor Genetics. He is also a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Education & Training:

• M.D., Medical University of Warsaw (1991)
• Ph.D., Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw (1999)
• Post-doctoral fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine (2003)
• D.Sc., Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw (2006)
• Board certification in Clinical Cytogenetics, American Board of Medical Genetics

Research Focus: Dr. Stankiewicz’s laboratory deciphers the molecular bases of human lung development, with an emphasis on lethal developmental disorders such as alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV). His team discovered that haploinsufficiency of FOXF1 and disruption of the TBX4-FGF10 pathway underlie these conditions. Additional interests include somatic mosaicism for SNVs and CNVs, genomic rearrangements mediated by low-copy repeats and retrotransposons, and the identification of novel genes responsible for neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral disorders (e.g., PSMD12, BPTF, TRIP12). The group integrates genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and functional modeling to translate findings into improved clinical diagnostics and genetic counseling.

Funding & Grants: Dr. Stankiewicz has served as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH awards:

• R01HD087292 (NICHD) – "Unrecognized scale and clinical relevance of somatic mosaicism" (2017-2022)
• R01HL137203 (NHLBI) – "Epigenomic dysfunction at 16q24.1 vascular defects and perinatal consequences" (2017-2021)
• R01HL101975 (NHLBI) – "Pathogenetics of the FOX transcription factor gene cluster on 16q24.1" (2010-2014)

Professional Memberships:

• American Society of Human Genetics
• European Society of Human Genetics
• Polish Society of Human Genetics

Laboratory & Mentorship: The Stankiewicz Lab has trained >20 post-doctoral fellows and graduate students, including Esra Bolukbasi, Justyna Karolak, Tomek Gambin, and Daniel Domogala. Ongoing clinical research protocols (IRB H-37568, H-37199, H-33409, H-8712, H-28088) continue to advance genomic diagnostics and translational research.