I was born and raised in Moscow. I started at a regular school but later transferred to a physics and mathematics school. Despite the strong focus on physics and math, I was interested in languages. From age 16, I researched university programs, attending fairs but missing real stories from alumni. I decided to explore opportunities independently.

East Asian studies appealed to me, but I chose to take physics and math exams instead, pursuing humanities interests alongside. A career test suggested linguistics or engineering, but traditional engineering didn't excite me.

I looked for programs at the intersection of engineering and medicine, discovering "Biotechnical Systems and Technologies" at Bauman Moscow State Technical University and MAI. The description seemed perfect: technologies for human health, aligning with my family tradition – many relatives are doctors.

My first two years at MAI were challenging due to high expectations. I studied intensively while attending Korean classes at the embassy, which conflicted with Saturday lectures.

I arranged an individual schedule with my physics professor to complete assignments early and continue Korean lessons. My English professor offered an alternative: prepare a presentation for a university conference instead of standard tasks. This introduced me to scientific research and sparked my interest.

At the "Gagarin Readings," my professor suggested an overview of modern medical technologies for my thesis topic – my first experience with scientific literature, structuring material, and presentations. I began visiting my department more often, inquiring about projects, and gradually immersing myself in scientific life.

I delved deeper into biomedical engineering and saw its breadth, combining device development, biology, and mathematical modeling. I struggle to limit myself to one field, so I prefer interdisciplinary areas where technologies improve health and longevity.

I learned about Skoltech from news about Professor Ekaterina Khrameeva receiving the L'Oréal-UNESCO "For Women in Science" award. Her story inspired me, showing how women advance in academia.

In her interview, she discussed DNA packaging and research on cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, piquing my interest in her lab. This led me to study Skoltech's structure, education, and research in detail.
I sought a personal perspective beyond online open days. I found a girl from Skoltech's "Life Sciences" program on a tutoring platform – the only one listed. I messaged her about preparing for admission and asking questions. She agreed, surprised as she hadn't tutored there for years. We had several calls discussing studies and interview preparation.

By the end of my MAI biomedical engineering studies, I wanted to expand beyond it into biomedical data analysis. Skoltech's "Life Sciences" program seemed ideal.

Admission started with exams in math, physics, biology, and chemistry (with optional molecular biology or neurobiology questions). Math and physics were easy; chemistry was tough, but I surprisingly scored maximum there.

Post-exams, they sent a pool of articles for the interview – candidates choose any to analyze. Conversations with the alumna directed me to Ekaterina Khrameeva's lab, whose molecular biology work inspired me. I thought it mandatory to analyze her article if targeting her group, but without background, I struggled to find a suitable one requiring molecular process knowledge.

In reality, I prepared an article from another professor and presented it successfully. The committee valued overall impression, not the specific choice.
I reviewed the Zhelman Center for Neurobiology and Neurorehabilitation website, where I returned in my first master's year. Computer vision for MRI images interested me, but the professor had left. I then met Maxim Sharaev – my future master's supervisor at the AI-neurobiology intersection. He showed project directions, and we quickly defined my thesis topic.

During studies, I tried entrepreneurship: generating ideas, assembling teams, pitching to investors.

In my second year, I assisted a professor in the "Innovation Workshop," gaining organization and mentoring experience. We created a one-day course solving project tasks in 8 hours. The professor supported the initiative.

I aimed to launch a startup using business course knowledge. Professor support was key, but idea selection proved challenging.
This experience fueled my company dream. At graduation, I received an award for innovative spirit – a pleasant surprise.

Our started startup is stalled but ongoing. We have a registered patent for software in a medical device for transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, aiding stroke patients' motor function recovery based on individual parameters.

In my second master's winter, I pondered my future. My "Life Sciences" thesis focused on multimodal machine learning models for schizophrenia diagnosis. Pred defenses made me feel non-typical, prompting thoughts on advancing in AI.

This year, a Yale professor specializing in functional neuroimaging (fMRI) joined our center. Working in the Neurocenter, I engaged with his projects. He offered to extend my thesis in a neurofeedback lab.
After six months of reflection, PhD admission was the logical step. I developed deep learning models and collected own data – an important milestone.
Public data often lacks quality. Collecting proprietary data is costly and time-intensive: recruiting, preparing subjects for scanning, EEG acquisition builds communication skills.

Research uniqueness lies in interdisciplinarity: simultaneous EEG-fMRI recording and machine learning models adapted to our multimodal dataset's specifics and tasks.

Additionally, I handle another PhD project and work as a junior machine learning engineer. Typically, PhD students focus on one project, but I valued continuing collaboration with my master's supervisor.

I plan a computer science degree alongside "Life Sciences." My advisor confirmed it's possible; it's appealing for R&D growth. I interned at AIRI's neurointerface group.

My PhD work involves fMRI signal reconstruction from EEG algorithms, enhancing neurofeedback therapy accuracy for depression patients. It's a promising field, actively discussed in 2026.

The MICCAI 2025 conference, held in Daejeon Expo (South Korea), was my first experience of participating in an international medical artificial intelligence event. The organization made a generally positive impression: the attentive attitude of the participants and thoughtful logistics created a comfortable atmosphere, starting with registration, where everyone was given a branded souvenir. The program included a wide range of topics, from the use of VR/AR in medicine and LLM for clinical tasks to issues of privacy and explainability in artificial intelligence systems.

I spoke in the Graphs - Learning and Data section in front of an audience of 150+ people. Is it exciting? Definitely. But watching the general pattern of speeches was a little reassuring: most of the speakers were just reading the text from a laptop or a piece of paper. The report was followed by questions from the Session Chairs: Angelica Aviles-Rivero (Tsinghua University, China) and Jelmer Wolterink (University of Twente, Netherlands). Their questions were professional and showed that they really listened to the details of the study.

Beyond research, I mentor in Women in Tech and Skoltech, starting in my second master's year when applicants sought admission advice.

I expanded to sharing experiences beyond Skoltech. Last summer, I joined an international mentoring program across Russia, France, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, aiding women in IT with tracks like DS, HR, and project management.

Mentors choose mentees; I selected beginners. Two years ago, I switched from engineering to IT and neurobiology, so I advise on career starts and contacts. Many mentees with 7-8 years experience explore new fields; I help identify needed skills.

Sharing with young professionals energizes me and helps change lives. I discovered I give valuable advice – a revelation. Mentoring programs connect people naturally.

I would tell myself that I'm doing everything right and there's no need to worry. That period was stressful because I was initially put on Skoltech's waitlist, and I was very anxious. I had deliberately applied during the first wave and was afraid there wouldn't be another chance. When the result came, I was upset, not knowing that people get accepted from the waitlist too. I had to start looking for other options.

I would advise myself not to worry and just to wait. I remember my friends told me that I would receive an acceptance letter, but I didn't believe them. Then, at the end of August, the letter really did arrive, and I was over the moon with happiness.

In the end, everything worked out exactly as it was meant to!

We are Skoltech. A new type of university in Russia, established in 2011 in collaboration with MIT with the vision of being a world-leading institute of science and technology. From the zero stage, Skoltech has rapidly advanced along the way towards a top-100 young university recognized globally by Nature Index.