About

I am currently based at Lancaster University’s Medical School as a Lecturer in Biostatistics (Health Informatics). My most recent research looks at mental health care provision and services use and I work with local NHS trust and clinical psychologists. I also look at patterns of learning in young readers together with researchers in literacy and psychology. My research has been published in top journals in statistics, social science, psychology and health. You can find more here.

I also write poetry, essays and short stories in both Russian and English and look for ways in which science, research and art can speak with each other. Some of my poetry is currently under submission but you can view a few pieces here.

I was born near Moscow in a small town, and grew up between Moscow and Kharkiv where my mother and grandmother lived respectively. I came to the UK from Russia on my own when I was 17. I studied first for economics degree, then political science, then data science and energy research for my PhD (completed in 2019, UCL). Later I have taught statistics in psychology, did research in statistical methods that eventually led me to research in mental health where my horizons around what I see research methods and areas of enquiry have expanded. During this time I lived in London, Toulouse, Edinburgh and now, Lancaster. In addition to my core training I always been interested in philosophy, sociology and gender studies, something that I have been focusing on more recently.

The invasion of Ukraine has ultimately changed me and influenced the focus of my work and what I do with my time. I reached out to literature as first a way to relate, heal and then started to write intensively myself with a view of art being a form of resistance. I always wrote a little in the past but last two years have pushed me to take this further to explore my experiences as an immigrant and access the impact of conflict on individuals. I have studied under mentorship of Oksana Vasyakina, audited course with Eoghan Walls at Lancaster, completed feminist poetry courses in School of Literary Practices in Moscow and have been learning theory of literature and authoethnography of vulnerability as a part of free education provided by Free University Moscow.

In sum, I research, teach, write, read a lot and support others to do the same. It has been my pleasure and passion to support others to achieve their goals, be it researchers or writers. I have been mentoring PhD students and early career researchers informally and formally since I started my PhD, read other writers work to offer peer-feedback and have been offering development (e.g. not an imposter workshop, writing groups for women) courses and mini-coaching opportunities.