Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ph.D. University of Gdansk, Poland
Contact Information
Office: SE 246
Phone: (561) 297-4871
Email: mstawikowski@fau.edu
Lab website: LipidProbeLab.com
Chemical Biology of Lipids | Fluorescent Molecular Probes | Lipid Trafficking & Lipid Droplets
The Stawikowski laboratory develops chemical tools for investigating lipid trafficking, metabolism, and lipid-droplet biology in living cells. Our goal is to determine how molecular structure governs lipid uptake, intracellular routing, metabolic processing, and storage.
A major focus of the laboratory is the development of environment-sensitive fluorescent lipid probes. We design fluorescent analogs and lipid mimetics of fatty acids, cholesterol and cholesteryl esters, and glycerolipids including monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, and triacylglycerols. These probes are used to determine how lipid structure influences intracellular trafficking, metabolic conversion, and storage, with particular emphasis on lipid-droplet targeting and neutral-lipid storage and metabolism.
Our research integrates synthetic chemistry, fluorescence spectroscopy, membrane biophysics, molecular dynamics simulations, and quantitative live-cell imaging. By combining molecular probe development with mechanistic cell biology, we aim to create tools that reveal lipid behavior that is difficult to resolve using conventional fluorescent dyes or endpoint biochemical measurements. Ultimately, we seek to understand how molecular-scale lipid behavior contributes to cellular lipid homeostasis and its disruption in disease.
Gomez C, McInchak N, Louis S, Heck E, Mesa H, Meade J, Zhang Q, Stawikowski MJ. Solvatochromic diacylglycerol-mimetic probes reveal distinct trafficking of DAG-like lipids to lipid droplets. Bioorganic Chemistry. 2026;179:110010. Article / DOI
McInchak N, Stawikowska L, Mesa H, Meade J, Zhang Q, Stawikowski MJ. L-Lysine-Linked Modular Fluorescent Cholesteryl Mimics: Biophysical Properties, Molecular Interactions, and Cellular Applications. Sci. 2025;7(2):56. Article / DOI
Rubio V, McInchak N, Fernandez G, et al., Stawikowski MJ. Development and characterization of fluorescent cholesteryl probes with enhanced solvatochromic and pH-sensitive properties for live-cell imaging. Scientific Reports. 2024;14:30777. Article / DOI
Alamgir S, Pelletier OB, Thomas D, Rubio V, Stawikowski MJ, Zhang Q. Measuring Membrane Lipid Turnover with the pH-sensitive Fluorescent Lipid Analog ND6. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2021;(173). Article / DOI
Thomas D, Rubio V, Iragavarapu V, Guzman E, Pelletier OB, Alamgir S, Zhang Q, Stawikowski MJ. Solvatochromic and pH-Sensitive Fluorescent Membrane Probes for Imaging of Live Cells. ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 2021;12(4):719-734. Article / DOI
Research in the Stawikowski laboratory has been supported by Florida Atlantic University seed funding and the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH/NIGMS).
Stawikowski M, Zhang Q. Fluorescent Lipid Compounds. U.S. Patent Application Publication US-20260242411-A1, published August 20, 2026.
Students interested in chemical biology, synthetic chemistry, fluorescence imaging, lipid metabolism, membrane biophysics, or molecular modeling are encouraged to contact Dr. Stawikowski about undergraduate and graduate research opportunities.
FAU students (only): Please use this contact form.
