KIRA ASTAKHOVA
PhD (bioorganic chemistry)
Associate Professor in Chemistry
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ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4878-0301
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Date of birth: 6 August 1985
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Nationality: Russian, Danish (dual citizen)
Residency: Denmark, USA
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E-mail: kiraas@kemi.dtu.dk
Web: http://ias982.wixsite.com/kiraastakhova/about1-c1tj6; http://www.kemi.dtu.dk/english/Research/Organic-Inorganic-Chemistry/Kemisk_Biologi/KiraAstakhova/Profile
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CURRENT POSITION
2017– pres. Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark
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Present research: organic chemistry, fluorescence, nucleic acid chemistry and biology
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INNOVATION ACTIVITIES
2006 – pres. Working on independent, highly interdisciplinary research projects which actively integrate life sciences, organic chemistry, technology and clinical work.
2008–pres. Submitted 5 patent applications on highly interdisciplinary innovations; participated in technological development projects in Russia, Denmark and USA.
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MANAGERIAL AND LEADING EXPERIENCE IN-BRIEF
2008–pres. Established and led research teams in industry and academia (up to 20 group members); organized scientific meetings, seminars and educational courses in Russia, Denmark and USA. Attracted and managed 9 research grants.
2004–pres. Mentoring and supervising more than 100 young researchers in Denmark, Russia and USA.
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EDUCATION
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June 2019 Biology of cancer (J Hopkins Institute, studies on coursera)
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Sept–Nov 2017 Infectious diseases (5 ECTS, Stanford University, USA)
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March 2017 - Data Structures (University of California San Diego, by Coursera)
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Feb 2017 - Strategical management (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)
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Jun–Jul 2015 Data Analysis and Statistical Inference course (Duke University, USA; studied on-line)
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Jan–May 2015 Project Management course (University of California Irvine, USA; studied on-line)
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2013–2014 Lecturer Training Programme (University of Southern Denmark (SDU))
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2006–2009 Ph. D. (bioorganic chemistry) – “Modified nucleosides containing perylene or (phenylethynyl)pyrenes in the 2'-position: synthesis and spectral properties within fluorescent oligonucleotide probes”. Defended 22.4.2009 at the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (IBCH RAS), Moscow, Russia; supervisor: Prof. Vladimir Korshun
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2006–2008 Work on PhD project under The Sixth Framework Program Marie Curie Host Fellowship for Early Stage Research Training, Nucleic Acid Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
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2001–2006 M. Sc. Degree (Chemistry) – “Phenylethynylpyrene-2′-arabino-uridine carbamates as novel fluorescent labels for DNA”. Defended 2.02.2006 at IBCH RAS and Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; supervisor: Prof. Vladimir Korshun
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PREVIOUS POSITIONS AND INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY
2012–2017 Associate Professor, Nucleic Acid Center (NAC), Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
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2013–2014 Visiting Scholar: Division of Oncology, Ji lab; Shriram Imaging Center, School of Engineering and School of Medicine, Stanford University (SU), USA
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2012–2013 Visiting Professor: Luc Jaeger Lab, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
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2009–2012 Postdoctoral Fellow: Jesper Wengel group, NAC SDU, Denmark
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2008–2009 (Industrial and clinical work) Researcher: Oligonucleotide development group (April 2008 – September 2008), Serology diagnostics group of the Laboratory of Postgenomic Technologies (September 2008 – April 2009), Center for Molecular Diagnostics and Central Institute of Epidemiology, Moscow, Russia
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2003–2008 Research Fellow: Nucleic Acid Chemistry Lab, IBCH RAS, Moscow, Russia
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2001–2003 Research Fellow: Laboratory of Fine Organic Synthesis, N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
Currently I supervise 2 PhD students, 2 Postdoctoral fellows, 2 Msc students, 4 BSc students, and partially supervise 2 MD students at Stanford University, USA
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TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2010-2017 class teaching, 3rd semester Organic Chemistry course, SDU, Denmark; 1st semester Chemistry course, SDU, Denmark; Responsible Professor at the 3rd semester Organic Chemistry Laboratory Course, SDU, Denmark; 3rd semester Analytical Spectroscopy course, SDU, Denmark; establishing and teaching a new course at SDU entitled “Nucleic Acids in Medicinal Chemistry and Nanobiotechnology”.
Currently: Responsible Professor for biomolecular chemistry (DTU26422), DTU, organic and inorganic synthesis (DTU26002/26474).
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DANISH NATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
Scientific collaborations in Denmark: Prof. Dr. J. Kjems, Molecular imaging studies, DNA origami, iNANO Center, University of Aarhus; Prof. M.D. A. Voss, Clinical diagnostics, Odense University Hospital; Prof. Dr. F.C. Nielsen, Cancer research, University of Copenhagen; Dr. Victoria Birkedal, Fluorescence microscopy, University of Aarhus; Prof. Dr. Jacob Kongsted, Computational chemistry, University of Southern Denmark.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Major scientific collaborators: Prof. A. Cuenda, Bioimaging, National Biotechnology Center, Madrid, Spain; Prof. MD Hanlee Ji, Dr. Peter Griffin and Prof. MD Elizabeth Mellins, Immunology and Cancer research, Stanford School of Medicine and Genome Technology Center, Stanford University, USA; Dr. Kevin Morris, Gene therapy, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, CA, USA. International industrial collaborations: Lumiprobe (Russia, Germany, USA), Promega (USA), Synthesis and application of novel fluorescent dyes and probes for biorthogonal research and technology.
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Funding ID
On-going Grants
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Novel tools for highly efficient detection of nucleic acids - Going beyond amplification
Villum Foundation, Denmark
940.000 euro
Jan.16-Dec.20
Leadership, management,
supervision
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Transcriptional control, target modification, and excision of HIV in the brain
National Institutes of Health, USA
350.000 euro
Jun.15-Dec. 2016
Co-PI, leader of a work package, management, supervision
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Rational design of optical probes for sensing in cellular membranes
Danish Agency for Independent Research
900.000 euro
Jan.17-Dec.20
Co-PI, leader of a work package, management, supervision
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New therapeutic for autoimmune kidney disease: Multimodal nanoconjugate
DTU Proof of concept
70.000 euro
Jan.18-Dec.20
Leadership, management, supervision
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Amplification-free detection of EBOLA virus using novel fluorescent probes
Augustinus Foundation, Denmark
14.000 euro
Nov15-Dec. 2016
Leadership, management, supervision
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Prizes and Awards
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Capes prize, 2019
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Jorcks Prize, 2018
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Carlsberg Elite PostDoc fellowship, 2013
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Talent prize received from Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark, 2012
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Elite Research Grant, The Danish Council for Independent Research, 2012
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Marie Curie Young Stage Training Fellowship, 2006
Organization of scientific meetings
2015-2017 Organizer of a monthly scientific seminar series at SDU (10-30 participants)
2009- 2018 Organizer of >20 Danish National and International Scientific Seminars in Russia, Denmark and USA, 15-50 participants
Work with innovation
I actively transfer my research findings into business. Herein, my key focus lies on the interface of organic chemistry, optical detection methods, biotechnology and biomedicine.
To date, I am a funder and co-funder of two companies, in Denmark (IBIOTECH ApS), and USA (KKM Therapeutics; established in Feb. 2018). I have a strong IP and more patent applications to be filed in the nearest future.
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Patents
-Rationally designed 2'-(O-1,2,3-triazoyl)-methoxy oligonucleotide probes for fluoresence-based bioanalysis, PCT/EP2015/064999 (2014)
-Novel artificial phospholipid-protein bioconjugates for biomolecular recognition, PCT/DK2015/050346 (2015)
-"Clickable" alkyne-LNA oligonucleotides, PCT/EP2014/052694 (2014)
- New Therapeutics for Autoimmune Kidney Disease: Synthetic antigens, P2395EP00 (2018)
- Ultra fast diagnostics of nucleic acids by FLEET microfluidic chip (to be filed in Sept 2019)