Mariia starts her PhD at UMB! 🎓🦠
🥳 Fantastic news, Mariia is now officially a PhD student! She has joined the international doctoral programme at the Medical University of Białystok 🌍🎓. We couldn’t be more excited to see her continue her journey with us and take on such an important project! 💚🧬
🕷️ What will Mariia work on?
Her PhD project is titled:
“Development of Bioinformatics Methods for the Study of Tick-Borne Diseases”
Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) like Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and tick-borne encephalitis are a growing health threat in Europe ⚠️. Climate change 🌦️, land-use patterns 🏞 and expanding tick habitats mean more people are at risk. Co-infections make diagnosis and treatment even trickier.
Mariia’s mission:
✨ Build databases and interactive maps 📊🗺️ to track ticks and pathogens.
✨ Develop machine learning models 🤖 to predict infection risk after a tick bite.
✨ Analyze omics data 🧬 to find biomarkers that improve diagnosis and guide treatments.
✨ Study how co-infections and different treatment methods impact patient outcomes.
🔬 Collaboration & impact
This project will be carried out in close collaboration with the OneTick consortium 🤝, led by Professor Anna Moniuszko-Malinowska and our very own Michał Burdukiewicz. With access to unique clinical, epidemiological and omics datasets, Mariia’s research will:
- Provide new biomarkers to better diagnose TBDs.
- Offer predictive models to support clinicians.
- Help design evidence-based public health strategies to monitor and manage tick-borne diseases. 🏥🌍
🎉 Congratulations, Mariia!
We’re beyond proud of Mariia’s achievement and thrilled to see her research grow in such an impactful direction 🌟. Tackling tick-borne diseases is no small feat, but with her dedication and skills, we’re sure she’ll make a big difference.