Elina carries a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Ottawa (Canada). She then obtained her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. It is here where she discovered an interest in translational immunology, through several research internships at hospital-affiliated laboratories. Elina then joined the MIM program under the Life Science Zurich Graduate School as a PhD student, in the Laboratory of Immunobiology directed by Prof. Dr. Burkhard Ludewig, at the Kantonsspital St.Gallen. She is currently working on deciphering mechanisms of stromal cell development in secondary lymphoid organs, as well as investigating the role of stromal and immune cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment. In her leisure time, Elina enjoys traveling, hiking, and reading.