Dr Lavinia-Lorena Pruteanu

Health and Life Scientist, with Experience in Academia and Biotech

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[email protected]Membership of Professional Bodies: GA, ACS, RSBI, ISCB

My passion lies at the intersection of drug discovery, natural products, nutrition, and health sciences in academia and research, inspiring students as an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Sciences and Nutrition and Dietetics at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca.My research work harnesses natural products data for drug discovery, with a focus on antibacterials combating drug resistance, and on omics data to enhance patient stratification, refine treatment selection, and deeply explore the mechanisms underlying various diseases.With a solid academic foundation, I hold 2 BSc degrees, one in Biochemistry and the other in Nutrition and Dietetics, 2 MSc degrees, one in Clinical Chemistry and one in Nutrition and Quality of Life, complemented by a PhD in Chemistry at the intersection of Cheminformatics and Bioinformatics applications in Medical Sciences.Previously, as a research biologist-biochemist at the Research Centre for Advanced Medicine – MedFuture Cluj-Napoca, I contributed to the Department of Clinical Studies and Cell Therapy development. In this capacity, I collaborated with the Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine, and Translational Medicine at the UMF Cluj-Napoca, as well as with IOTA Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, UK, in partnership with the University of Cambridge's Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacy, where I continued collaboration and worked at a postdoctoral and senior level.Currently, I am a Visiting Researcher in Medical Sciences at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where my contributions continue to resonate across the scientific community.Researcher in several granted projects:- Functional chemical reprogramming of cancer cells to induce antitumor immunity (2024-2026)
- Lung squamous cell carcinoma therapeutic targets using systems-level machine learning based on single-cell RNA-sequencing (2023-2026)
- Development of toxicogenomics applications for screening and risk assessment when exposed to contaminants in the environmental media (2022 - 2024)
- The WINDOW Consortium for glioblastoma: targeting intra- and inter-patient, Brain Tumour Charity UK (2018-2020)
- Non-invasive Intelligent Systems for Diagnosis and Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer based on Circulating microRNA Integrated in the Clinical Workflow (2016)

ACADEMIC AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTSAward (2017) - Finalist for the Student of the Year in Romania award (2015 - 2016). Gala of the League of Romanian students abroad by League of Romanian students abroad, Bucharest Parliament Palace

Grant obtained (2017) - PNCDI III - Mobility projects for researchers, 2017 Call Number PN-III-P1-1.1-MC-2017 competitionErasmus Scholarship (9/2016-12/2016) UMF, Cluj-Napoca - University of Cambridge, UKPOSDRU/187/1.5/S/155383 Fellowship (7/2015 – 12/2015), Quality, excellence, transnational mobility in doctoral research, The Sectoral Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007 – 2013:- King`s College London, UK, focusing on docking studies for pharmaceutical compounds, Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Research Group of Dr. Edina Rosta (11/2015)
- University of Lincoln, UK, working with Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), looking for similarities and differences in drug
conformation, Department of Pharmacy, Research Group of Prof. Nicholas Blagden (08-09/2015)Research project - based World Federation of Scientists Scholarship (2015-2016), based on the research proposal: Inferring herbal anti-inflammatory actions based on phylogeny, chemical composition, and structure, using molecular similarity

SCIENTIFIC LECTURES AND SEMINARS- Upcoming presentation: Immunocapture of extracellular vesicles from patient plasma can help identify distinct profiles of glioblastoma and aging, 3rd Healthy Longevity Symposium Featuring Nature Forum: Measuring Healthy Aging, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 13-14 Nov 2025
- Using omics data for patient stratification, treatment selection, and mechanisms of disease analysis in cancer, invited by Professor Aedin Culhane, Bernal Seminar Series at the University of Limerick, Ireland, 21 May 2024,
(https://www.ul.ie/scieng/events/bernal-seminar-series-using-omics-data-for-patient-stratification-treatment-selection)
- Selection of algal natural products for drug discovery, TII, Biotechnology Research Center, invited by Dr. Carsten Wolff, Executive Director of Environmental Biotechnology, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 01 May 2024
- Mode of action and synergy analysis of LY-294002 and the natural product fucoxanthin in glioblastoma cells, GA2023 Dublin, Ireland
- Bioactivity of fucoxanthin alone and in combination on glioblastoma cell lines, SNOMR Congress of Oncology 2023, Poiana Brasov, Romania
- Biological activity of compounds from marine algae on tumor cell lines, RSCB2022, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Tumor immune microenvironment and spatial biology for drug discovery, SNOMR Congress of Oncology 2022, Poiana Brasov, Romania
- Targeting Cell Death Mechanism Specifically in TNBC Cell Lines, UTCN Cluj-Napoca, CUNBM, Department of Chemistry and Biology, Romania, 09 May 2022
- Interdisciplinary at the base of drug discovery, UTCN Cluj-Napoca, CUNBM, Department of Chemistry and Biology, Romania invited by Assoc. Prof. Zoița Berinde, 07 Jun 2021
- Drug discovery in glioblastoma, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Depart. of Pharmaceutical Engineering, China, invited by Prof. Aixia Yan, 02 Apr 2019
- Understanding the effect of arsenate treatment on breast cancer cell lines using gene expression analysis, Division: MEDI ACS National Meeting in Boston, MA, USA, 19 - 23 Aug 2018
- Understanding the effect of arsenate treatment on cancer cell lines using gene expression analysis, Zaragoza University, Pharmacy, Spain, invited by Prof. Elisa Langa, 08 Feb 2018
- LogP estimation model based on quantitative structure-property relationships, Conference ”Quality and Excellence In Doctoral Research” POSDRU/187/1.5/S/1553 83, Oradea, Romania, 16 - 20 Dec 2015
- A QSPR model established to evidence the relationship between molecular structure and lipophilicity in xanthones class of compounds, Summer School - Ab initio Modelling in Solid State Chemistry - Crystal 2016, Torino, Italy, 04 - 09 Sep 2016
- A QSPR model for Steroids, Conference - Nanoscience in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Mathematics, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 12 - 14 Nov 2015

SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

MSSC2016 Summer School in "Ab initio Modeling in Solid State Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Torino
https://www.crystal.unito.it/mssc2016/

Bernal Seminar Series - Using Omics Data for Patient Stratification, Treatment Selection, and Mechanisms of Disease Analysis in Cancer - Assistant Professor Lavinia-Lorena Pruteanu | University of Limerick

PharmEnable Closes $7.5M Financing led by MP Healthcare to Develop Next Generation of Small Molecule Drugs to Treat Cancer and Neurological Diseases, 2023 ($7.5M Financing led by MP Healthcare - PharmEnable Therapeutics). Read the full press release here: