Natalia Oleinik

Natalia V. Oleinik, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Her research focuses on lipid metabolism-driven cancer mechanisms, immunotherapy resistance, and mitochondrial stress responses. She investigates ceramide-mediated mitophagy pathways and their roles in tumor suppression, metastasis, and anti-tumor immunity.

Key research areas include lipid signaling in cancer, metabolic reprogramming in aging immune cells, and pathogen interactions with tumor microenvironments. Her work integrates molecular biology, biochemistry, and nanotechnology to explore therapeutic targets in oncology and neurodegeneration.

Notable contributions include studies on PD-L1 regulation via ceramide pathways, porphyromonas gingivalis-induced mitophagy resistance, and biomimetic nanomaterials for cardiosplenic axis modulation. She has published extensively on sphingolipid biology, mitochondrial ferroptosis, and TGF-β signaling interactions with lipid metabolism.

Natalia's work bridges basic science and translational research, aiming to develop novel strategies against therapy-resistant cancers and age-related pathologies. Her lab is located in the College of Medicine at MUSC, with collaborations spanning cancer biology, immunology, and nanomedicine.