Conducting research in the field of cancer neuroscience with a focus on small cell lung cancer (SCLC), one of the most aggressive types of cancer, with a high relapse rate after standard-of-care treatment and a 5-year survival rate less than 7%.

Biomentorhub was founded in 2020 by a team of enthusiastic young professionals in their 20s, from Romania, who believe in the value of mentorship and consider that this can have a determining role in the career and personal development of youth and also in supporting specialists from the Romanian diaspora to find or create professional opportunities in Romania.With a focus on bioscience and medicine research, Biomentorhub includes a network of 35 mentors from 9 countries and has engaged in several successful projects in Romania and in the diaspora, aimed at connecting young specialists who can drive innovation in these fields, at popularising science and at training university and high school students in science communication. With its most recent initiative, 4BiOMed, Biomentorhub is set on a goal to create a multi-disciplinary and multi-professional community of Romanian specialists who can drive innovation in the biotech and healthcare sectors in Romania.

Taught Human Physiology courses to students enrolled in the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree and Nursing degree (ND) programs.

Conducted research in the area of immunology, as a member of the INSPIRED research project team, focused on developing effective allergen-specific immunotherapies and allergen-based diagnostic kits for patients allergic to ragweed, a major public health problem in Romania and in other European countries (www.oncogen.ro).

Thesis: Genome-wide Insights into the Targets and Mechanisms of Lactate Signaling in CorticalNeurons and an Investigation of the Astrocyte- Neuron Lactate Shuttle in Relation to the Gut Microbiota.Collaborative thesis research performed at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and APCMicrobiome Ireland, where I have conceived a first exploratory study focused on the link between the gutmicrobiota and the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle in the hippocampus.PhD Advisor: Prof. Pierre Magistretti

Conducted a part-time internship project aimed at developing a high-level biopharma& biotech industry analysis in Saudi Arabia and at identifying research areas in the Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division at KAUST, with potential for collaborative industry projects.

eBIG is a student-run group that serves as a link between the Innovation& Economic Development department and the student body at KAUST, encouraging passion for and interest in business and entrepreneurship.Established the framework for a part-time on-campus internship program with Innovation & Economic Development units, addressed to graduate students, and sponsored by the Office of Vice President.

Elected member of Graduate Student Council and Chair of International Business Relations Committee. Recruited Student Ambassadors and assisted company representatives at the KAUST Industry Collaboration Program (KICP) Career Fair (March 2014), KICP Research Symposium (April 2014) and KAUST Career Fair (October 2014). Offered support to the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center for promotion of specific events and facilitated communication to external student-run business and entrepreneurship associations.

Project topic: Effect of gut microbial community manipulations on brain energy metabolism genes.

Using computer modeling to understand how the early history of anatomically modern human migration and settlement has shaped present-day genetic variation.

Participated in the Vienna Biocenter International Summer School and presented research findings in a scientific symposium.Investigated error correction and spindle checkpoint signaling at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition using intracellular laser microsurgery and confocal fluorescence live-cell microscopy.Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Gerlich, Senior Scientist.

Teaching assistant for the General Biotechnology Course, the Advanced Lab Course in Molecular Cell Biology, and the General Biochemistry and Cell Biology Lab Courses I and II.Tasks included: organizing tutorials for students, evaluating course quizzes and exams, preparing reagents and apparatus set-up for experiments, offering support and supervising students during experiments.

Studies on glycerol and xylose metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae species.

Participated in the Vanderbilt International Summer Research Academy.Characterized putative replication stress response proteins and analyzed 400 candidate genome maintenance genes using specialized bioinformatics tools (Ingenuity, ToppGene, David).Supervisor: Dr. David Cortez, Professor of Biochemistry and Ingram Professor of Cancer Research

Recruited and coordinated a team of 27 students from 16 countries involved in the organizationof JacoBus Challenge 2012, an international business plan competition in the field of Energy and Environment, aimed at supporting young student entrepreneurs in developing their business start-up ideas.

Coordinated and promoted the club initiatives. Initiator and Main Organizer of BEaMS Challenge Business Case Competition in Fall 2010. Main Organizer of the JacoBus Challenge 2011 European Business Plan Competition. Established partnerships with local professional business organizations (Bremen Kommt) and student organizations at Oxford University, Bocconi University, and EBS Business School.