“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.
Theses supervision
Master program - Molecular Biology
2021 - 2023: Matrix factorization-based models for detecting the cell groups and explain intra-tumoral heterogeneity of glioblastoma using single-cell RNA-seq data - M.M
2018-2020: Statistical modeling of the global prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age based on WHO data - A.N
2016-2018: Effects of hormonal therapy containing estrogen and progesterone on hemostasis parameters in post-menopausal women - E.B
2016-2018: Role of smoking in hemostasis parameters - XH.H
2016-2018: The role of lifestyle on hemostasis - A.K
Master program - Teacher of Biology
2021-2023: Increasing critical thinking skills in biological education through the ICTs - E.Q
2020-2022: Use of ICTs by biology student teachers - J.S
2020_2022: Use of ICTs by biology teachers - S.P
2018-2020: Theoretical and methodological treatment of genetic diseases in the biology curriculum - A.V
2015-2017: The role of lifestyle on the incidence of non-communicable diseases- E.H
+ 9 more
Events
Statistical and machine learning modeling of biological data in R
October 18-20, 2023, at the Department of Biology, University of Tirana (Albania)
Advances in the Analysis of Human Microbiome and Transcriptomics Data
May 24, 2022 at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana
Statistical and machine learning techniques for microbiome data
Online workshop – 15 October 2021
17-18 December 2021, Online Conference, Department of Biology, University of Tirana (Albania)
Lab