Biography
Shestakova holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Russian Federation that she got in 1993. The theme of her thesis was the analysis of intracellular organization of eukaryotic protein synthesis apparatus in relation with the cytoskeleton. Her multidisciplinary postdoctoral training includes experimental investigations in cancer field on the role of E2A-PBX1 and Hoxa9 oncogene collaboration in the development of leukemia at the Research Centre of Montreal University, Canada (2009-2013), on the role of BRCA1 in breast and ovarian tumor suppression at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA (2004-2008) and studies of epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression at the Rene Descartes University, Paris, France (1999-2004) as well as training and teaching of students for MSc and PhD degrees. In her research she is using cutting edge technologies such as functional genomics, proteomics, mouse and cell culture models, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy.
Since 2014 she is working as a Senior Research Scientist at the Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Centre on the evaluation of prognostic and predictive significance of molecular markers in breast, ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer. She developes new quantitative approaches using flow cytometry and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for the analysis of oncology markers expression at protein and RNA levels and their gene amplification. Major objectives of Shestakova’s work is discovering of new protein components of elaborate complexes which could be involved in initiation and maintenance of cancer as well as deciphering prognostic and predictive value of different molecular oncology markers.
Research Interest
My research interests include basic and applied research in the field of cancer (breast and ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, leukemia) using the knowledge of mechanisms of eukaryotic replication, transcription and protein synthesis and leading edge technologies including functional genomics, proteomics, mouse and cultured cells models, flow cytometry, confocal and conventional fluorescent microscopy. One of the major fields of her research interests is the development of translational medicine connecting results of basic research to clinics. She is particularly interested in personalized medicine, innovative chemotherapeutic strategies and targeted anticancer therapies.
