Irina received her medical training in Russian State Medical University in Moscow with a specialization in oncohematology. During her thesis, she worked on characterization of myelopoiesis in long-term survivors with acute myeloblastic leukemia. In the von Andrian lab, she developed an in vivo imaging model of bone marrow microcirculation and dissected molecular mechanisms orchestrating trafficking of hematopoietic progenitor cells to the bone marrow. In addition, she addressed the role of bone marrow in CD8 T cell-mediated immunity. Currently, Irina participates in research exploring a mechanism of adaptive immunity provided by natural killer cells.