Marta Michalska was born in 1983. Marta studied Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of Gdansk, Poland. As a final year undergraduate student she went to Germany to work in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular biology at Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald under the supervision of Professor Dr Reinhard Walther, after which she received an MSc in 2007. From October 2007 to April 2008 Marta received further training in the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science in the Conway Institute, UCD Dublin, under supervision of Professor Dr Philip Newsholme, funded by an EU coordinated action TONECA. She participated in the Biochemical Society 'Molecular mechanisms of glucolipotoxicity' conference in March 2008 at UCD Dublin where she presented her first poster titled 'The role of oxidants and anti-oxidants in beta cell function and integrity' and was awarded the Clinical Science 'Young Investigator' prize. Her work demonstrated that in RINm5F cells with reduced expression of Prx III, addition of cytokines, hydrogen peroxide, streptozotocin or alloxan caused cell death, which was associated with elevated activity of iNOS and cleavage of PARP. Furthermore inhibition of NADPH oxidase and/or iNOS protected mouse islets from cytokine and palmitic acid-induced dysfunction while antioxidants such as catalase, superoxide dismutase and N-acetylcysteine protected against cytokines, hydrogen peroxide and high glucose in various β-cell lines. Cells overexpressing Prx III were protected due to elevated mitochondrial antioxidant activity. Thus cellular antioxidants protect from cytokine or chemical-stimulated ROS production, thus maintaining insulin secretion and preventing β-cell death.