Dr. Dominik Lewandowski is a Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine. He has a background in multiple disciplines, including biochemistry, molecular biology, and ophthalmology. In 2016 he defended his Ph.D. thesis, where he characterized molecular mechanisms underlying interactions between Lyme disease bacteria and its tick vector. These findings are of interest in the Lyme disease field and can be used to find preventative measures to limit the transmission of pathogenic bacteria. For his doctoral dissertation, he received multiple distinctions, including the prestigious award for best Ph.D. thesis granted by Polish Prime Minister.

In 2017, Dr. Lewandowski successfully switched fields from Lyme disease research to vision science, starting post-doctoral research in Prof. Krzysztof Palczewski's lab – one of the top vision scientists in the world. Since then, he has been fascinated by eye research, focusing on deciphering the mechanisms of retinal degenerative diseases and establishing novel strategies for preventing and treating these disorders. Recently, Dr. Lewandowski discovered that adiponectin receptor 1 is one of the principal enzymes regulating ceramide homeostasis in the retina, and its dysfunction in mice leads to an accumulation of ceramides, resulting in photoreceptor cell death and, ultimately, vision loss. He also found that pharmacological lowering of ceramide levels protected photoreceptors, helped preserve the retina's structure and function, and improved vision, published in a prestigious medical journal JCI Insight in 2022. Lately, being nominated by co-workers and awarded Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow 2022 by the University of California Irvine, he continues to explore the roles of ceramides and other lipids in retinas' health and disease.