Prokunina-Olsson Named Acting Chief of LTG
, by DCEG Staff
Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson
Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D., was appointed Acting Chief of the DCEG Laboratory of Translational Genomics (LTG) in February 2018. Dr. Prokunina-Olsson explores the connections between GWAS-identified genetic susceptibility variants and molecular phenotypes of importance for cancer in general, and bladder cancer, in particular. Some of her findings have resulted in translational and clinical applications, such as her discovery of a novel human interferon, IFN-λ4, that affects clearance of and predicts response to treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Dr. Prokunina-Olsson received an M.Sc. in molecular genetics from Moscow State University, Russia, and a Ph.D. in medical genetics from Uppsala University, Sweden. During 2005-2008 she was a visiting fellow with Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., in the Genome Technology Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH. She joined LTG in 2008 as a research fellow, became a tenure-track investigator in 2010 and was tenured by the NIH in 2014. She has been recognized for her research contributions with an NCI Director’s Merit Award, several NCI Innovation and Intramural Research Awards and awards outside the NIH. She also received the DCEG Outstanding Mentor Award in recognition of her contribution to fostering next generation of scientists.