Meet Irina Matetovici, VIB.AI’s operations manager
VIB.AI’s scientific director Stein Aerts knows that every Batman needs a Robin. That is why his very first hire at VIB.AI was an operations manager who could help with the million things that need to be set up when building a research center from scratch. Meet Irina Matetovici, a researcher with a passion for biology and new technologies.
All corners of Europe
Originally from Romania, Irina traveled to Scandinavia after obtaining her degree in Molecular Biotechnology. In Sweden, she studied ancient DNA for vegetation reconstruction. Her next stop was Italy, for a stint at the European Reference Laboratory for Food and Feed, where she created methods to identify genetically modified pollen DNA in honey and other food products.
“My time in Sweden and Italy inspired me to pursue a PhD focused on genomics and molecular evolution,” she says. Through a twist of fate she eventually ended up in Belgium, studying the vector-parasite interaction of tsetse flies and trypanosoma–a parasite causing sleeping sickness–at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.
“Quite ironic that a girl educated in Transylvania decides to study a blood-sucking insect,” quips Irina, who says it became a running joke whenever she had to introduce herself.
New technologies and new challenges
During her PhD, Irina became an expert at RNA sequencing and developed a growing interest in the technology itself. After a short period as a postdoc at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, she jumped at the chance to join the Tech Watch team at VIB.
“As part of the Tech Watch team, I scouted and screened new, emerging technologies, and helped to de-risk, develop and disseminate them within the different research groups of VIB.” It was on one of those projects, working on benchmarking of nuclei isolation methods and spatial technology, that Irina first collaborated with the team of Stein Aerts.
But after nearly five years at the Tech Watch team, she was looking for a new challenge. “I am still fascinated by technology but felt like I was working too much ahead of the curve. I was testing technologies people weren’t interested in yet, and thought it would be nice to be more closely involved where the actual research action is.”
When an opportunity arose to support the launch of a new research center focused on AI and computational biology, she didn’t hesitate. “Apart from the AI angle, I really enjoy the challenge of starting something new completely from scratch, so the role of operations manager at the new center seemed perfect.”
“I figured I could put my experience working with the different cores, research centers and directors at VIB as part of the tech watch team to good use. Plus, having already worked together with Stein as well, I felt confident we’d make a good team.”
"VIB.AI provides a fantastic opportunity for the local community to come together and compete with other big institutes in the world."
Taking the first steps
Aligning expectations between all the different stakeholders quickly turned out to be one of the main challenges in her new role at VIB.AI. “At the same time, it is great to see that everyone is excited and enthusiastic about our initiatives. We always get great feedback from the community about our plans and strategy. Everyone seems to embrace VIB.AI and is looking forward to the arrival of new PIs and the fresh research questions they will bring.”
Recruitment is high on Irina’s agenda today, with the first group leader call closing at the end of January. “We are eager to meet the candidates that applied to our first call. Of course, it takes some time for people across the globe to get to know VIB.AI, so we are also gathering important lessons for our second call later this year.”
At the same time, Stein and Irina are building bridges locally within the computational community. “VIB.AI provides a fantastic opportunity for the local community to come together and compete with other big institutes in the world. That is why we are also investing in hardware to provide more resources to our researchers."
When asked what she’s most excited about personally, she has multiple answers ready. “Even though we’re officially only a small team for now, we are working together with partners at VIB, at the different Flemish universities, etc. It has been such a joy that everyone, from admin to department heads, has been so generous with their time and expertise to help us move forward.
“Stein also has such a positive attitude, trying to initiate new ideas and challenging the status quo. He pushes VIB and the research community to think outside the box and to consider doing things differently."
Irina says she also enjoys the opportunity to learn more about AI: “I am super excited for the combination of AI, machine learning and automated robotized experiments, which will allow us to close the circle and mingle different modalities. I am also interested in the ethics and fairness of models, so it is great to explore all of these different perspectives with VIB.AI."
Technology at work and at home
Besides VIB.AI, Irina is managing the operations at her two gardens. “I have a home garden with flowers, boasting a big collection of daylilies. Their flowers only stay for one day, but we have about one hundred different ones, all planted according to a structured plan–organized like a botanical garden.”
She’s also partnering in a community garden where she grows vegetables and competes in gardening challenges–like who has found the most snails on their produce. But whether it's genomics or pickling and making jams, Irina is forever scouting tech. “I have a lot of tools and machines and am always inclined to buy the latest model,” she laughs.
Irina is counting down the days to spring, as this means she’ll get to tend both of her gardens again, and meet the short-listed group leader candidates for VIB.AI.
“The new recruits and our inaugural symposium in the fall will definitely be among the highlights for 2024. The latter will be a very nice opportunity for us to jump-start AI in biology within Flanders and Belgium.”
“I also look forward to the next unknown unknowns that we will undoubtedly come across,” she adds. “One thing’s for sure: 2024 will be a very exciting year for VIB.AI!”
