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Hire Dr. Ivana G.

Croatia

USD 140 /hr

Senior Scientific Consultant (PhD) | Knowledge Graphs, AI/ML & Multi-Omics Strategy

Profile Summary

Profile Summary: I am a Senior Scientific Consultant with over 20 years of combined experience in top-tier academia (Weill Cornell Medicine) and the biotech industry. I specialize in bridging the critical gap between wet-lab experimental biology and computational data science. My core expertise lies in helping pharmaceutical and biotech organizations maximize the value of their data. I translate complex biological questions into executable computational strategies, ensuring that data insights are scientifically valid and actionable for R&D teams. Key Areas of Expertise: Bioinformatics & Knowledge Graphs: Constructing and querying biomedical knowledge graphs to support drug discovery (Cypher, SQL). AI/ML Strategy: improving the "explainability" of AI models for biologists and validating computational predictions against biological reality. Multi-Omics Analysis: Deep expertise in Epigenetics, Chromatin Biology, and Oncology (ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq). Strategic Consulting: Drafting Statements of Work (SOW), defining use cases for computational tools, and project management for cross-functional teams. Background: I hold a PhD in Molecular Biology and have published extensively in high-impact journals including Blood, JCI, and Cell Reports (80+ citations on key papers). Currently, I operate as an independent consultant advising major industry clients (including QIAGEN Digital Insights) on data integration and drug discovery workflows. I am available for projects requiring high-level scientific strategy, data interpretation, and the design of computational tools that biologists actually want to use.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Machine Learning
• ★ Bioinformatics
• ★ Drug Discovery
• ☆ Computational Biology
• ☆ Molecular Biology
• ☆ Biomarkers
• ☆ Omics
• ☆ Transcriptomics
• ☆ Proteomics
• ☆ Chromatin
• ☆ Epigenetics
• ☆ Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)
• ☆ ATAC-Seq
• ☆ DNA Sequencing
• ☆ Gene Expression Analysis
• ☆ RNA Sequencing
• ☆ ChIP-Seq
• ☆ Cell Biology
• ☆ Cell Signaling Pathways
• ☆ Gene Regulation
• ☆ Data Analysis
• ☆ Data Processing
• ☆ Data Exploration
• ☆ Data Visualization
• ☆ Big Data Analytics
• ☆ Data Collection
• ☆ Data Management
• ☆ Text Mining & Analytics
• ☆ Data Mining
• ☆ Data Cleaning
• ☆ Data Architecture
• ☆ Artificial Intelligence
• ☆ Gene & Protein Expression Analysis
• ☆ Cell Culture
• ☆ Primary Cells
• ☆ 3D Cell Culture
• ☆ Knowledge Management
• ☆ Information Retrieval
• ☆ Python
• ☆ SQL
• ☆ Drug Target Identification
• ☆ Software Development
• ☆ Hypothesis
• ☆ Peer Review
• ☆ Research Methodology
• ☆ Literature Search

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI
• Product Development

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing

Research Feasibility Study, Technology Scouting, Gap Analysis, Scientific and Technical Research, Secondary Data Collection

Consulting Digital Strategy Consulting, Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Data Visualization, Big Data Analytics, Text Mining & Analytics, Data Insights

Product Development Product Evaluation, Concept Development

Work Experience

CEO

operon bioinformatics

April 2021 - Present

Postdoctoral Assocaite

Weill Cornell Medicine

April 2018 - April 2021

Postdoctoral Associate

Bar-Ilan University

April 2015 - April 2018

Scientist @ Innomol EU project

Rudjer Boskovic Institute

2012 - 2015

Visiting Researcher

University of Navarra

2010 - 2012

PhD Candidate

Rudjer Boskovic Institute

January 2005 - 2010

Education

Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (Molecular biology)

University of Zagreb

- Present

Certifications

• Data Governance - The Complete Course for Beginners

  udemy

  https://www.udemy.com/certificate/UC-9c03569b-760a-442e-a27d-66df49355400/

  September 2025 - Present

• IPA Certified Analyst

  QIAGEN

  January 2025 - Present

• Intermediate Cypher

  Neo4j Graph Academy

  https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/b0b9098c-f5c7-4bd6-95a1-418956dbb01f/

  November 2024 - Present

• AI for Everyone

  deeplearning.ai

  https://coursera.org/verify/3QYINZBOSYC8

  November 2024 - Present

• Graph Analytics for Big Data

  UC San Diego

  https://coursera.org/verify/Z3BTA7I7KW2X

  November 2024 - Present

• Biomedical Knowledge Base

  QIAGEN

  October 2024 - Present

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Erik R Sampson, Yi-Chien Chang, Kuan-Chun Huang, Tom Lin, Prasanna Baskar, Mei-Ling Yang, Ali Sepahi, Dobeen Hwang, Jack Huck, Ming-Tang Chen, et al. (2024). Accelerating Drug Discovery: AI-Powered Indication Exploration for Ropeginterferon Alfa-2b . Blood.

Avital Sarusi Portuguez, Ivana Grbesa, Moran Tal, Rachel Deitch, Dana Raz, Limor Kliker, Ran Weismann, Michal Schwartz, Olga Loza, Leslie Cohen, et al.(2022). Ep300 sequestration to functionally distinct glucocorticoid receptor binding loci underlie rapid gene activation and repression . Nucleic Acids Research. Oxford University Press ({OUP})

Deli Liu, Michael A. Augello, Ivana Grbesa, Davide Prandi, Yang Liu, Jonathan E. Shoag, R. Jeffrey Karnes, Bruce J. Trock, Eric A. Klein, Robert B. Den, et al. (2021). Tumor subtype defines distinct pathways of molecular and clinical progression in primary prostate cancer . Journal of Clinical Investigation.

(2018). Knock-down of AHCY and depletion of adenosine induces DNA damage and cell cycle arrest . Scientific reports.

(2017). Mapping Genome-wide Accessible Chromatin in Primary Human T Lymphocytes by ATAC-Seq . Journal of Visualized Experiments.

Grbesa I, Hakim O, Protoplasma, 2017, vol. 254, no. 3, pp. 1175-1185, 2017 .

Grbeša I, Kalo A, Belužić R, Kovačević L, Lepur A, Rokić F, Hochberg H, Kanter I, Simunović V, Muńoz-Torres PM, Shav-Tal Y, Vugrek O, European journal of cell biology, 2017, 2017 .

Muñoz-Torres PM, Rokć F, Belužic R, Grbeša I, Vugrek O, BioData mining, 2016, vol. 9, pp. 26, 2016 .

Perina D, Korolija M, Hadžija MP, Grbeša I, Belužić R, Imešek M, Morrow C, Marjanović MP, Bakran-Petricioli T, Mikoč A, Ćetković H, Marine drugs, 2015, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 4179-4196, 2015 .

Grbesa I, Pajares MJ, Martínez-Terroba E, Agorreta J, Mikecin AM, Larráyoz M, Idoate MA, Gall-Troselj K, Pio R, Montuenga LM, PloS one, 2015, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. e0124670, 2015 .

(2014). Poster Sessions . The FEBS Journal.

Novak Kujundžić R, Grbeša I, Ivkić M, Krušlin B, Konjevoda P, Gall Trošelj K, Pathology oncology research : POR, 2014, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 687-695, 2014 .

Cipak A, Borovic S, Jaganjac M, Bresgen N, Kirac I, Grbesa I, Mrakovcic L, Cindric M, Scukanec-Spoljar M, Gall-Troselj K, Coric M, Eckl P, Zarkovic N, Acta biochimica Polonica, 2010, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 185-191, 2010 .

Grbesa I, Marinkovic M, Ivkic M, Kruslin B, Novak-Kujundzic R, Pegan B, Bogdanovic O, Bedekovic V, Gall-Troselj K, Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany), 2008, vol. 86, no. 9, pp. 1057-1066, 2008 .

Novak Kujundzić R, Grbesa I, Ivkić M, Katdare M, Gall-Troselj K, Journal of cellular biochemistry, 2008, vol. 104, no. 5, pp. 1781-1792, 2008 .

Grbesa I, Ivkic M, Pegan B, Gall-Troselj K, Cancer letters, 2006, vol. 238, no. 2, pp. 224-229, 2006 .

PREPRINT

Ivana Grbesa, Michael A. Augello, Deli Liu, Dylan R. McNally, Christopher D. Gaffney, Dennis Huang, Kevin Lin, Ramy Goueli, Brian D. Robinson, Francesca Khani, et al. (2021). SPOPmutation confers sensitivity to AR-targeted therapy in prostate cancer by reshaping the androgen-driven chromatin landscape .

Ivana Grbesa, Michael A. Augello, Deli Liu, Dylan R. McNally, Christopher D. Gaffney, Dennis Huang, Kevin Lin, Ramy Goueli, Brian D. Robinson, Francesca Khani, et al. (2021). <i>SPOP</i>mutation confers sensitivity to AR-targeted therapy in prostate cancer by reshaping the androgen-driven chromatin landscape .

Avital Sarusi Portuguez, Ivana Grbesa, Moran Tal, Rachel Deitch, Dana Raz, Ran Weismann, Michal Schwartz, Olga Loza, Myong-Hee Sung, Tommy Kaplan, et al. (2019). Gene activation and repression by the glucocorticoid receptor are mediated by sequestering Ep300 and two modes of chromatin binding .