Iza Radecka received an MSc in biological sciences from the University of Silesia, Poland in 1990. Within biosciences, her research first focused on anatomy and histology (interactions between heavy metals and enzymatic activity in brain tissue). In 1991, she took a position as a junior researcher at the Institute of Polymer Chemistry at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze, Silesia, with a special interest in the biodegradability of different synthetic polymer blends. After one year there, she decided to take a PhD researcher/lecturer post at the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, with a special interest in microbial biotechnology concerning the production of biodegradable polymers by bacteria under different environmental conditions. She completed her PhD at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. After that, in 2000, she joined the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. Since then, her research has focused on the cost-effective synthesis of new biomaterials using bacterial biopolymers from eco-sustainable feedstock and their chemical derivatization, which can transform crude polymers into a range of highly valuable products. Iza is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.