Irina Balaur, PhD. (born Roznovat)



Qualifications

I am a computational biology researcher, with experience in several biomedical EU collaborative projects, including the ongoing Cardiovascular HeartMed ERA-Net Cofund in Personalised Medicine project (HeartMed: an ICT platform combining pre-clinical and clinical information for patient-specific modelling in cardiovascular medicine to improve diagnosis and help clinical decision-making), the ongoing COVID-19-focused COVIRNA ERAvsCorona Action Plan project (COVIRNA - A diagnostic test to improve surveillance and care of COVID-19 patients), the large-scale EU IMI eTRIKS translational research project (eTRIKS: European Translational Information and Knowledge Management Services) and in the Cancer-Epigenetics-focused CIESCI ERA-Net Complexity project (CIESCI: Complexity of Interdependent Epigenetic Signals in Cancer Initiation). I am an Editor of the Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) project. I am a Fellow of the IMI FAIRplus project on FAIR principles and RDA indicators, and of the University of Luxembourg Leadership Academy (ULLA) on key leadership principles.

Particular areas of expertise include computational modelling of biomedical complex systems, large-scale data management (FAIRification, integration, analysis), development of multiscale models in cancer, exploration of the role of epigenetics in cancer, use of machine learning techniques in biomedical networks, use of systems biology standards.

Research/ Academic Experience

Industry Work Experience

  • Jul. 2008 - Jun. 2011 - Software developer, Human-Machine Interface Research & Development Group, Speech Team, Continental Automotive Romania, Iasi, Romania

Teaching Experience

Student internship co-supervision at EISBM, France

  • Apr. - Aug. 2016 - Bioinformatics Master - Tanvi Ranjan (IIT Kharagpur, India) - a 3-month Java programming internship funded by eTRIKS, "Merging and layouting extensive biological networks".

  • Febr. - Aug. 2015 - Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Master II - Vasundra Toure (Universite Paris-Sud, UFR Sciences, France) - a 6-month Java programming internship funded by eTRIKS, "Storing and management of systems biology models in a graph database ”.

Teaching assistant at DCU Oct. 2012 - Sept. 2014

  • assisting during laboratory hours: Quantitative Analysis for Business Decisions with R (2013), Computing for Mathematics using Matlab/FreeMat (2012), Biometrics (2013)

  • evaluating final projects: Web Design/Programming with JavaScript (2014)

Education

PhD Thesis: A Computational Model for Colon Cancer Dynamics, Supervisor: Prof. Heather J. Ruskin.

Extra Modules/Courses

FAIR data:

  • Jun. 2021 - May 2022 - IMI FAIRplus Fellowship: a comprehensive training programme in FAIR data management (no. 802750)

Leadership principles

  • Sep. 2021 - Nov. 2021 - University of Luxembourg Leadership Academy (ULLA)

Computational systems biology:

  • Apr. 2015 - Advanced Lecture Course on Computational Systems Biology (CompSysBio, INRIA, Aussois, France)

  • Oct. 2011 - Jan. 2012 -Statistical Data Analysis (DCU) Oct. 2011

Biology:

  • Jul. - Aug. 2013 - Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression, Coursera (Certificate with Distinction)

  • Jul. - Aug. 2012 - Vaccines, Coursera

  • Jul. - Aug. 2012 - Fundamentals of Pharmacology, Coursera

IT:

  • Jul. 2011 - Introduction to High Performance Computing, DCU + Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC), Dublin, Ireland

  • Jul. 2012 - OpenMP and Message Passing Interface (MPI), DCU + ICHEC, Dublin, Ireland

  • March 2010 - IBM Rational Software Architect - Concept and tool presentation, UAIC + IBM Romania, Iasi, Romania

Teaching:

  • 2004-2008 - Psycho pedagogical module, Department for Preparation of Didactic Personnel, UAIC, Iasi, Romania