Olga is a Translational Fellow. As an independent interdisciplinary scientist with a PhD in Mathematical Biology, her passion lies in using non-trivial mathematical insights and techniques to model Life and Medical Sciences. She is deeply interested in applying her quantitative knowledge to a wide range of biomedical and clinical challenges.
Olga's work aims to showcase the power and beauty of Mathematics, inspiring others to appreciate its endless possibilities. Her research focuses on overcoming the main barrier that prevents experimental study of a major fungal pathogen of humans, Pneumocystis, that is an obligate extracellular pathogen of humans and therefore non-culturable in vitro. To achieve this, she has developed an in silico metabolic model of Pneumocystis growth and metabolism and is using this model to study Pneumocystis and to design in vitro growth conditions.
Olga has established a cross-disciplinary team of collaborators thereby gaining requisite skills for the project, including laboratory and molecular biology skills, bioinformatics, flux balance analysis, and machine learning skills.