Alina Ustiugova, PhD
I work across AI-enabled drug discovery, therapeutic strategy, translational research, molecular biology, and immunology — taking scientific questions from initial brief through structured analysis to evidence-based recommendation.
Scientific research, therapeutic strategy, and execution.
My work combines biological judgment with structured scientific operations and cross-functional collaboration.
I am a biology analyst and molecular biology scientist with nine years of experience across AI-enabled drug discovery and academic research.
My work spans target identification, biomarker discovery, indication prioritization, drug repurposing, mechanism-of-action research, and clinical-trial analysis. I currently lead therapeutic research projects from initial scientific brief through evidence synthesis, biological interpretation, hypothesis prioritization, and client-ready recommendation.
My experimental background includes immunology, molecular biology, genetics, CRISPR/Cas9, cell culture, PCR/qPCR, flow cytometry, ELISA, western blotting, and translational research.
Areas of scientific focus.
Therapeutic research from biological hypothesis through analysis, prioritization, and recommendation.
Target & Biomarker Discovery
Therapeutic target identification, biomarker discovery, biological plausibility assessment, and evidence-based prioritization.
Multi-omics Analysis
Biological interpretation of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and other omics datasets.
AI-enabled Research
Application and evaluation of AI/ML approaches for biomedical research, evidence synthesis, and drug discovery.
Drug Discovery Strategy
Indication prioritization, drug repurposing, mechanism-of-action research, and therapeutic strategy.
Immunology & Molecular Biology
Experimental and translational biology, including immunology, genetics, CRISPR/Cas9, and molecular biology.
Scientific Operations & Communication
Project scoping, work plans, reports, presentations, stakeholder communication, and cross-functional execution.
Professional experience.
Biology Analyst
Lead therapeutic research projects from initial scientific brief through evidence synthesis, platform-based analysis, biological interpretation, hypothesis prioritization, and client-ready recommendation. Own a portfolio of pharma-sponsored, academic, and internal R&D programs totaling approximately US$1M.
Analyst / Data Curator
Evaluated clinical trial designs and outcomes, produced forecasting reports for pharmaceutical clients, curated more than 10,000 clinical trial outcomes, interpreted ML-generated knowledge graphs, and developed structured biomedical data workflows and quality-control guidelines.
Senior Researcher
Led research projects from hypothesis development and grant preparation through experimental execution, interpretation, publication, and scientific communication. Secured four research grants and worked across immunology, molecular biology, genetics, and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing.
Selected publications.
Selected work from a record of articles, preprints, and conference abstracts across therapeutic discovery, immunology, molecular biology, and translational research.
Autophagy regulator ATG7 links lipid metabolism to cell-fate decisions in kidney tubule health and disease
Evaluation of (Z)-endoxifen as a potential therapy for glioblastoma multiforme through computational and experimental analyses
From clock to clock: Therapeutic target discovery for aging and age-related diseases
Designing a multi-serotype Dengue virus vaccine: an in silico approach to broad-spectrum immunity
CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing demonstrates functionality of the autoimmunity-associated SNP rs12946510
Multi-dimensional immunoproteomics coupled with in vitro recapitulation of oncogenic NRASQ61R identifies diagnostically relevant autoantibody biomarkers in thyroid neoplasia
Academic background.
PhD in Molecular Biology
Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology RAS
Thesis: Functional analysis of non-coding single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with human autoimmune diseases.
MSc in Biology
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Specialization: Immunology
BSc in Biology
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Specialization: Immunology
Research, collaboration, and scientific opportunities.
For professional or research-related inquiries, feel free to contact me by email or connect through LinkedIn, Google Scholar, or ORCID.