Kaverina Lab

M.S., Moscow Lomonosov State University USSR

Ph.D., Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Irina Kaverina graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia in 1989 and thereafter received her Ph.D. degree from the Russian Medical Academy in 1992, studying the cell biology of the cytoskeleton in cancer cells with such great mentors as Yury Vasiliev and Tanya Svitkina (who is now at UPenn). Later, she moved to the fairy-tale city of Salzburg, Austria, to be a postdoctoral fellow and then a research scientist in the Austrian Academy of Sciences in the laboratory of Vic Small. While in Austria (1996-2004), Irina made several major contributions to the cell migration field, including the discovery of a phenomenon of microtubule targeting of focal adhesions. In 2005, Irina started her own laboratory in the Department of Cell and Development Biology at the Vanderbilt University, where she has held a Full Professor position since 2016. Irina enjoys formulating new hypotheses that challenge textbook dogmas, creating artistic images and movies of cells, playing with her dachshunds, and striving for perfection in Argentine tango dance.