The opening of the fourth season of meetings of the “Science Unites!” club, organized by the Department of Cell Biology and Methods of Teaching Biological Disciplines of the Educational-Scientific Institute of Natural and Agrarian Sciences at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy, began with a remarkable meeting.

On September 21, the discussion on scientific prospects, travel, and the development of young specialists featured Veronika Lavrinenko, this year’s graduate of the “Secondary Education (Biology and Human Health)” program.

Veronika successfully passed the selection for Canada’s Mitacs Globalink Research Internship Program for Ukraine and is currently working under the supervision of Professor Kristen Conn in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Veronika is conducting research on the herpesvirus replication protein ICP4. To this end, she is working on the creation of new bacterial vectors with viral sequences and the transformation of prokaryotic DNA.

Veronika is mastering not only advanced methods of bacterial genetic modification but also the basics of bioinformatics, principles of calculations for designing primers and “sticky ends” of plasmids. She is also working with routine laboratory methods for preparing and sterilizing media for bacterial cultures. In addition to her research, Veronika has taken the opportunity to travel across Canada, including a visit to Vancouver and to participate in university community activities – such as visiting the National Park, museums, and exploring student life in Canada.

We wish Veronika every success in achieving her goals and completing her internship!

You can watch a video recording of the meeting and find information about all previous sessions of the “Science Unites!” club on the department’s webpage via the provided link.

The Educational-Scientific Institute of Natural and Agrarian Sciences