معرفی
Irina Catrina is a Clinical Associate Professor of Chemistry at Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University. She holds a Ph.D. in Biophysical-Organic Chemistry from Utah State University and a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from the University 'Politehnica' of Bucharest, Romania. Her research focuses on RNA structure, folding, and interactions, with applications in advanced light microscopy and molecular imaging. She leads a research group developing tools for studying RNA dynamics, including the TFOFinder computational program and molecular beacon technologies.
Education:
- Ph.D., Utah State University, 2007 (Biophysical-Organic Chemistry)
- B.Eng., University 'Politehnica' of Bucharest, 2000 (Chemical Engineering)
Research interests include RNA folding mechanisms, regulatory RNAs, and visualization techniques for RNA trafficking in live organisms. Her work integrates computational methods with experimental approaches, such as live-cell imaging of mRNA processes in Drosophila egg chambers. She has developed novel probes for RNA localization and collaborated on projects related to HIV-1 mRNA analysis and P-body regulation in developmental contexts.
Awards include the 2021 Yeshiva College Silber Professor of the Year Award (selected by seniors) and a 3-year NSF Award (2024) in collaboration with Dr. Josefa Steinhauer. She has advised over 20 students in experimental and computational RNA research, with recent work showcased at Yeshiva's Student Research Conference.
Labs/Teams: Active research lab at Belfer Hall (Yeshiva College) focusing on RNA imaging and probe design, collaborating with the Youshan Zhang Lab on RNA folding projects.
