Anastassia Voronova is a new assistant professor in the Department of Medical Genetics.
Anastassia Voronova, a new assistant professor in the Department of Medical Genetics, brings a passion for the medical promise of stem cells to her position at the U of A. Through her research, she hopes to better understand how to engage neural stem cells for brain repair.
What brought you to the U of A?
I came to Canada to do my PhD and as my career progressed, I met a few colleagues along the way. I volunteered as a board director for the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences where I met researchers like Drs. Andrew Simmonds and Sarah Hughes that allowed me to learn more about the University of Alberta. I was drawn to this university because of the people-who works here, who I could collaborate with and the fun science that we could do together.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Estonia, one of the Baltic countries. Estonia is situated right below Finland and has about a million people living there. I did my master's at the Tallinn University of Technology, which is in the capital of Estonia. As part of my master's program there was a requirement that I do research outside of my country, so I decided to apply for a fellowship to come to Canada. I came to the University of Ottawa as a visiting scientist for two months and I fell in love with the country and with the science I was able to do. So I went back, finished my master's and applied for PhD scholarships in Canada. I was very fortunate to secure both local and national doctoral awards that allowed me to return to the University of Ottawa and begin my PhD project under the tutelage of Dr. Ilona Skerjanc.
What did you work on for your PhD?
I worked on embryonic stem cells trying to understand how to differentiate them towards one path or another-specifically looking at how to make them become heart or skeletal muscle cells or neurons. While working on the neuroscience project, I was really fascinated by how complex our brain is and how little we know about it. So for my postdoctoral fellowship I decided to pursue developmental neuroscience.
I did my postdoctoral fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children with prominent Canadian stem-cell scientists Drs. Freda Miller and David Kaplan. I was very fortunate to have worked under their guidance. It was the best decision I could have made. I fell in love with neural stem-cell biology and I adopted a focus on fundamental science with translational promise.
Has there been culture shock coming to Canada in terms of the country, the culture and the science?
There is always going to be a culture shock regardless of where you go. But apart from that, what I really appreciate in Canada is the huge diversity and equity. I look around and I see so many women who are successful professors. As a scientist in Canada, I don't have to think about my nationality or gender. I can focus on what I love and do best-science. It's very liberating.
And of course Canada is home to the discovery of stem cells, so there is a huge brain pool of amazing scientists and incredible research that is centered around stem cells. So once I was introduced to that world, I decided that the best thing for me would be to stay.
Who do you look up to? Do you have any heroes?
I would say my mom is both my personal and scientific hero. She's a chemist. I remember during my childhood she would take me often to her work. I grew up playing with Erlenmeyer flasks, which I guess explains, at least in part, the choice of my career.
I also look up to my postdoctoral supervisor, Dr. Freda Miller, as well as my PhD supervisor, Dr. Ilona Skerjanc. Both of them are trailblazing women scientists. Ilona gave me a lot of freedom to pursue various projects and think independently. Freda has cultivated critical thinking and taught me how to ask big questions in neuroscience that lead to exciting research with translational potential. I am particularly excited to follow the footsteps of Freda as she started her first independent research position at the University of Alberta. She was an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology. I even inherited a beaker with Freda's initials written on it! She is an incredibly supportive supervisor and I am lucky to be a member of her scientific family. If I can "grow up" to become anything like her it would be amazing.
What do you hope to bring to the U of A?
I think that I bring a strength in developmental neuroscience and neural stem-cell biology. I have gained an incredible appreciation for the promise of stem cells. I started off thinking we can transplant stem cells into an organ and help it repair. Now I have shifted my philosophy and I have designed my research program to understand how to engage the existing neural stem cells for brain repair. The existing adult neural stem cells are already "wired" to do what they're supposed to do-for example, become a neuron, astrocyte or oligodendrocyte. While we have limited capacity to regenerate and restore specialized brain-cell types, this process is quite inefficient in neurodegenerative disorders and/or in an injured brain. But if we know how neural stem cells build the brain, perhaps we can figure out how to hijack some of the pathways and make adult neural stem cells become specialized cells that the brain needs for successful regeneration. My research program aims to translate neurodevelopmental discoveries to potential therapies in aging or degenerating nervous system.
What are your interests outside of work? Do you have any hidden talents?
I think that the first year for an assistant professor is very busy. I seem to be juggling a lot of balls at the same time while learning grantsmanship and lab management at an incredibly fast pace. Aside from the lab, I used to play the violin and piano. I did about 10 years of classical musical training and sometimes it's very helpful. If it's too stressful I'll just start playing some instruments and that seems to help. I also used to do some ballroom dancing as well during graduate school. That can be a big stress reliever as well.