Pavel Alexandrovich Vlasov

Previous Institution: University of Maryland, College Park

My full name is Pavel Alexandrovich Vlasov. I am originally from Moscow, Russia, but I grew up in Potomac, Maryland. I attended the University of Maryland, College Park as an undergraduate and graduated with a double degree in biochemistry and cell biology.

As an undergraduate, I had done research at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. My two main areas of research there were in studying chronic kidney disease in a mouse model and in identifying exosomes produced by thyroid cells and identifying their contents. More recently, the results of my research on thyroid cell exosomes, specifically the packaging of thyroglobulin protein within them as part of a potential novel cell communication mechanism, have been published in the Journal of Thyroid Research.

At Columbia, I hope to shift my main research focus to biophysics and structural biology, particularly relating to the folding and interactions of proteins and nucleic acids. This interest partially arises from a number of questions that I have had regarding the mechanisms observed in my past thyroid cell exosome research.

Outside of academics and research, I enjoy building model kits, playing video games, fencing, and writing science-fiction stories. I also enjoy travelling to see the historic sites and wildlife in the places that I visit.