Women in Science and Engineering at Yale (2020 Edition)

Nadya Dimitrova, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

The Dimitrova laboratory studies long noncoding RNAs, vast portions of the human genome that do not encode for proteins and that were considered until recently unimportant and even “junk.” Nadya Dimitrova and colleagues are working towards discovering novel players in cancer biology with the hope of identifying innovative targets for cancer treatment. 

The long noncoding RNA Pvt1 (red) envelops Myc oncogene (green). Elevated levels of Myc cause cells to proliferate too much and can lead to cancer development. Recent work from the Dimitrova lab suggests that Pvt1 is a natural inhibitor of Myc and, therefore, could one day be harnessed to fight cancer. Photo credit: Nadya Dimitrova