Valentin Romanov

Background

About Valentin Romanov

I used to say that I designed artificial cells. Then I started working with actual cells, and I take it all back. I'm a scientific engineer with a background in micro- and nanoengineering, with a specific focus on fluid dynamics and multiphysics simulations. During my PhD at the University of Utah, I developed theoretical frameworks and manufacturing techniques for generating size-specific lipid nanoparticles. My supervisor, Prof. Bruce Gale, guided my growth in all things theory and engineering. My fellowship in Nanomedicine provided the foundations in nanotechnology. My co-supervisor, Dr. Adam Frost (now at Altos), taught me transmission electron microscopy and cryoEM, which I used to visualize the particles I was creating. This was the “artificial cell” part of my education. But actually, the only cell-like feature was the lipid membrane, whose composition and lipid-leaflet arrangement I engineered. As a postdoc at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, I’ve transitioned to working with actual cells. In Prof. Boris Martinac’s lab, we study mechanosensitive proteins—proteins responsible for processes like touch, proprioception, and blood pressure regulation, among others. My work focuses on developing new methods to study the mechanical properties of various cell types using acoustic levitation. This is where I learned that cells are temperamental, incredibly complex, and both fun and tragic to work with. As part of developing this acoustic instrument, I wrote a lot of code, mainly for data analysis. This is when I discovered the joy of using chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT to quickly transition between Matlab, Mathematica and Python. To help unify my code. More recently, I’ve been delivering educational content, specifically around Generative AI. While I see its potential, I’m also aware of its pitfalls—especially after spending over a hundred hours testing the latest chatbots in academic applications. I’ve delivered workshops to faculty, postdocs, and PhD students, sharing insights on integrating Generative AI into academic work. For fun, I’m building locally hosted LLM agents designed for literature reviews and data extraction. My work typically involves: • Developing new methods and techniques for studying single cells and multi-cell structures • 3D printing and material design • Writing code and data analysis • Supervising PhD, Master's, and Honours students • Organizing conferences and forums as part of academic committees • Reviewing grants and research manuscripts