Olesya Shpironok is a doctoral researcher in the Doctoral Programme in Drug Research at the Helsinki University. She is currently focused on investigating the molecular mechanisms of action of Cerebral Dopamine Neurotrophic factor (CDNF). CDNF successfully passed phase I-II clinical trials for Parkinson's disease treatment, but its exact mechanism of action remains uncertain. 

With an MSc degree in Biotechnology and extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Olesya has worked with pharmacopeial compendia to establish appropriate methods for drug testing and is honored to hold the position of co-chair at the Biotech Club at the University of Helsinki. 

Within Prof. Poul Henning Jensen's laboratory Olesya is dedicated to evaluating the influence of mutant CDNF proteins on α-synuclein.