CV

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Contact Information

Name Yura Song
Professional Title Computational Biologist & Bioinformatician
Email yura.song@ulb.be

Professional Summary

Computational biologist working on epithelial plasticity, cancer initiation, and single-cell multi-omics. My research focuses on how oncogenic, mechanical, inflammatory, and microenvironmental signals reshape cell states and gene regulatory networks in glandular epithelia and skin.

Experience

  • 2026 - 2029

    Brussels, Belgium

    Chargé de recherches (Research Fellow)
    Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer, Université Libre de Bruxelles
    Integrative analysis of single-cell, spatial transcriptomic, and multi-omic datasets to study cell competition and development of methodology.
    • This position is funded by Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS).
    • Deciphering mechanisms of epithelial plasticity and cell competition in skin by using spatial transcriptomics.
  • 2026 - 2026

    Brussels, Belgium

    Postdoctoral Researcher
    Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer, Université Libre de Bruxelles
    Integrative analysis of single-cell, spatial transcriptomic, and multi-omic datasets to study epithelial plasticity, tumour heterogeneity, and cell competition.
    • Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
    • Gene regulatory network inference
    • Cancer initiation and epithelial plasticity
  • 2023 - 2026

    Brussels, Belgium

    Bioinformatician
    Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer, Université Libre de Bruxelles
    Computational analysis of epithelial lineage plasticity and cell-state transitions in glandular epithelia and skin.
    • scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq analysis
    • Single-cell multiomics
    • Cell-cell communication analysis
  • 2015 - 2018

    South Korea

    Associate Researcher
    National Cancer Center
    • Cancer genomics and NGS analysis
    • Bioinformatics and molecular biology

Education

  • 2018 - 2026

    Brussels, Belgium

    PhD
    Université Libre de Bruxelles
    Medical and Pharmaceutical Science (Medicine), Faculty of Medicine
    • Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer (Prof. Cédric Blanpain)
    • Thesis: Deciphering gene regulatory networks and cell states induced by mechanical stress and oncogenes in glandular epithelia
    • This PhD position was funded by Télévie of the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) and Fond Erasme.
    • This doctorate equals grade 8 of the European framework of certification and the French speaking qualifications framework.
  • 2016 - 2018

    Seoul, South Korea

    MSc
    Ewha Womans University
    Biochemistry
    • Thesis: Analysis of inconsistent mutation calls for cell lines in next-generation sequencing databases
    • Joint program with the National Cancer Center, South Korea
  • 2012 - 2015

    Seoul, South Korea

    BSc
    Soongsil University
    Systems Biomedical Science
    • Bachelor thesis: Identification of functional nucleotide and haplotype variants in the promoter of FGB gene (Supervisor: Prof. Chaeyoung Lee)
    • Double concentration in Bioengineering and Bioinformatics
    • Early graduation with academic excellence

Publications

Skills

Single-cell & Spatial Omics (Advanced): scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, Multiomic datasets Probe-based Spatial Transcriptomics, CRISPR screening NGS sequencing
Computational Biology (Advanced): Single-cell Multi-omics Data Integration (Seurat, Signac, MOFA+), Gene Regulatory Networks (SCENIC, SCENIC+), Cell-cell Communication prediction (CellChat, CellPhoneDB), Pseudotime and Trajectory Inference (Monocle, Slingshot, PAGA), RNA Velocity (scVelo, velocyto), Differential Expression, Pathway Analysis
Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) Data Analysis (Advanced): Prediction of functional variants, NGS data processing pipelines, Variant calling, Differential expression analysis, Pathway analysis, Genome-wide association studies (GWAS)
Programming (Advanced): Python, R, Shell, Perl, HPC Pipelines

Languages

Korean : Native proficiency
English : Bilingual proficiency
French : Intermediate proficiency (DELF B1)
Mandarin Chinese : Intermediate working proficiency (High school diploma)
Italian : Basic proficiency
Flemish (Dutch) : Basic proficiency

Awards

  • 2023
    Presidential Award – Commendation
    Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies
  • 2015
    Graduation with Honors
    Soongsil University

Interests

Computational Biology: Single-cell genomics, epithelial plasticity, tumour evolution, spatial biology
Scientific Communication: Science outreach, conference organisation, interdisciplinary collaboration

Certificates

  • DELF B1 - Alliance Française (2023)
  • Qualified Translator (KOR-ENG) - Korean Society of Translators (2014)