Dr. Bashynska has dreamed of becoming a scientist since she was young, inspired by her biology and chemistry teachers who encouraged her to take part in competitions and reach her full potential. Her hard work and dedication paid off in 2016 when she earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, focusing on immune response gene polymorphisms and multiple sclerosis development. She then became a lead researcher at the O.M. Marzeyev Institute for Public Health, National Academy of Medical Science of Ukraine, and completed her postdoc at the Bordeaux Bioinformatics Center (CBiB) at the University of Bordeaux.
Dr. Bashynska is currently working on two projects. One looks at substance use disorder in the Ukrainian population and its underlying genetic effects, while the other assesses the immune and metabolic shifts in the progression of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas. “This project is carried out at the University of Bordeaux, and I have been involved in the scRNAseq analysis as a temporary postdoc at the PAUSE program for researchers at life risk,” she says.
Despite all the difficulties, Dr. Bashynska has an ambitious career plan. “In the next 5-10 years, I want to be the head of a genetic research lab, and for this, I need both to obtain new skills and to increase my management skills,” she says. “This lab would research complex disease genetics, with the focus on mental health, but not omitting other relevant projects.”
And she’s working towards all this, boosting her computational skills, including those in R, bash scripting, PLINK, APSampler, and more.
The lack of opportunities in Ukraine does not dampen her determination to succeed. “I feel most harmonious when I live and contribute to Ukrainian science and biotech while taking short- or medium-term courses abroad.”