Arina Lavrits
I am a visiting researcher from the Competence Centre on Health Technologies. I entered the University of Tartu in 2010. My scientific career started a year later after joining the research group of Sulev Ingerpuu.
As an undergraduate student, I studied laminins – the constituents of ECM (extracellular matrix), particularly the mechanism of their secretion from the choriocarcinoma cell line. After defending the BSc thesis, I continued my studies as a collaborator of the Competence Centre on Health Technologies investigating the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the interaction between trophoblast and endometrium. In 2016, I started my PhD studies focusing on the investigation of endometriosis (the role of EVs in the pathology of endometriosis and different therapeutic agents used in the treatment of endometriosis). In addition to pathological aspects of reproductive biology, I am interested in the understanding of the role of EVs in the embryo-maternal interaction. Thus, my work at TRANSGENO GroupSIME is related to the investigation of EVs secreted by IVF (in vitro fertilized) embryos. I am currently developing an optimal technique for isolation and purification of the EVs and characterization of them (electron microscopy, protein and RNA composition).