Olgica Milenkovic

Olgica Milenkovic is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holding multiple academic roles across departments. She is the Franklin W. Woeltge Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, a Professor in the Coordinated Science Lab, and affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary areas including DNA-based data storage, coding theory, machine learning, and molecular biology. She explores innovative solutions for high-density storage systems, error-correcting codes, and the application of graph neural networks in engineering and biology.

Key research interests include developing re-writable DNA storage mechanisms, optimizing molecular alphabets for data encoding, and advancing graph-based algorithms for complex system modeling. Her work bridges theoretical computer science with practical biological and nanotechnological applications, such as nanopore-based detection and electrophoretic manipulation of molecules. Recent projects address challenges in federated learning, optimal stopping theory, and semi-quantitative group testing for pathogen screening.

Milenkovic’s contributions span over 100 publications, including reviews on DNA storage systems and breakthroughs in perturbation-resilient distributed systems. Her interdisciplinary approach addresses real-world problems in data storage, cybersecurity, and synthetic biology. She collaborates across engineering, statistics, and life sciences to drive innovations in emerging technologies.