“In God we trust. All others must bring data.” 

-W. Edwards Deming-  

Statistician, professor, and consultant. 

Summary

Eliana Ibrahimi is a multidisciplinary scientist with expertise that encompasses biomedical sciences and statistics, working as Lecturer and researcher in Biostatistics at the University of Tirana, Department of Biology. Her current research is focused on statistical and machine learning modeling of microbiome and multiomics data to find biomarkers related to human health.

She always tries to balance her demanding research commitments with her true love - sparking curiosity and interest through teaching. 

She supports students, researchers, and NGOs in finding the best solutions for their statistical analysis and assists them in producing high-quality research that meets their objectives. 

Teaching

Eliana's primary goal as a lecturer is to motivate her students to self-study and to induce them to think more critically. She does this by giving them something to think about, a task to complete, or a problem to solve. She always tries to make her class a place to nurture the love of learning. 

University Teaching

10/2014 - present: Lecturer of Biostatistics - Bachelor in Biology, University of Tirana

10/2016 - present: Lecturer of Applied Statistics in Biology - Master in Environmental Biology, University of Tirana

10/2019 - present: Lecturer of Use of ICTs in Teaching - Master in Teacher of Biology, University of Tirana

10/2013 - 07/2016: Lecturer of Biology - Pharmacy and Dentistry program, University of Medicine Tirana

10/2013 - 07/2016: Lecturer of Human Biology - Bachelor in Psychology, University of Tirana

10/2010 - 07/2012: Assistant Lecturer in Biology - Medicine program, University of Tirana

Trainer

6-8/03/2023: ML4Microbiome Training School 2023 - Utrecht University, Netherlands - Organizer and trainer

5-8/10/2022: ML4Microbiome Training School 2022 - Barcelona, Spain - Trainer

6-9/09/2021: ML4Microbiome Training School 2021 - Online training school - Trainer

15/10/2021: ML4Microbiome Workshop 2021 - Online workshop - Organizer and trainer

07/2020, 07/2021: Hands-on Biostatistics Workshops 2020, 2021 Online two day workshops - Organizer and trainer 

03/2016-05/2016: Exploring Statistics with SPSS course - Tirana Center of Technology - Course Instructor 

Research

Eliana's current research is focused on modeling microbiome and omics data in general to uncover novel insights into human health. She focuses on applying statistical and machine-learning models to explore how the microbiome impacts human health, metabolism, and immunity, as well as how the host environment influences the structure and function of microbial communities. Another current focus is applying advanced machine learning algorithms and statistical modeling, for detecting the cell groups and explaining intra-tumoral heterogeneity of glioblastoma using single-cell RNA-seq data.

During her research stay and fellowship visit to BIOMED, UHasselt, she worked on matrix factorization and Bayesian matrix factorization to model EDSS trajectories in patients with multiple sclerosis. During her Ph.D, she investigated the impact of hormonal therapy containing estrogen and progestogen on hemostatic parameters. Her master's in Biotechnology thesis focused on comparing immunofluorescence, ELISA, and immunoblotting techniques for their effectiveness in detecting systemic autoimmune diseases.

Projects

2023-2025: Matrix factorization-based models for detecting the cell groups and explaining intra-tumoral heterogeneity of glioblastoma using single-cell RNA-seq data.

2023-2024: Life on Drugs: A Scientific Approach to Identify Potential Impact of Pharmaceuticals in Albanian Marine Environments and its Biota Health (PHARMATOX).

2022-2026: Information, Coding, and Biological Function: the Dynamics of Life (DYNALIFE), CA21169.

2022-2026: Network for implementing multiomics approaches in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease prevention and research (AtheroNET), CA21153. 

2019-2023: Statistical and machine learning techniques in human microbiome studies (ML4Microbiome), CA18131.

2020-2024: Information and Communication Technologies in Teaching and Learning.

2020-2024: Researcher Mental Health (ReMO), CA19117.

2021: “Survey of Public Opinions on Source Separation of Household Waste in the Municipality of Berat” between EDEN Center, Albania and Brooks Hannas and Partners, Serbia under contract no: 2019/413-950.

2020-2021: Paving the way towards a sustainable Natura2000 network in Albania; the case of the Narte-Pishe-Poro complex site. PPNEA (Albania). Supported by the European Union and EuroNatur.

2019-2022: Towards personalized medicine: predicting disease progression of MS patients from trajectory data (R-9635). Research Stay Grant, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt University, Belgium.