Lena Smirnova

Lena Smirnova is a Research Associate at the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research primarily focuses on developmental neurotoxicity and the role of microRNA in gene-environment interactions related to neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. From 2007 to 2012, she worked as a Postdoctoral researcher at the Federal Institute of Risk Assessment in Berlin, Germany, where she coordinated a pre-validation study in inhalation toxicology while also researching neurotoxicology. Lena earned her PhD in Neuroscience from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in 2007, concentrating on microRNA's role in neural development and stem cell specification. She graduated from the International Sakharov Environmental University in Minsk, Belarus, in 2002, specializing in Radiobiology and Environmental Medicine. In addition to her research, Lena is involved in educational initiatives aimed at promoting modern toxicology methodologies.