Veronika Cencen is a 22-year-old graduate student in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, set to work with prof. Kosmrlj of Princeton University through the ASEF Fellowship program. She completed her BSc in Biotechnology at the University of Ljubljana in 2014. Her research interests are interdisciplinary; her current projects are focused on the development and use of microfluidics in nanotechnology and biophysics, in the hope of developing novel methods for diagnostics and treatment of diseases for which current approaches are inadequate and poorly accessible.
As a member of a diplomatic family, she has lived in several countries and speaks six languages (English, Slovene, French, Chinese, Russian and Lithuanian). When she is not teaching or researching in the lab (or attending a conference or society meeting), she enjoys training and competing in rhythmic gymnastics as an international athlete recognized Olympic Committee of Slovenia, volunteering for the science outreach group Let’s Talk Science and Aboriginal Mentorship Program (where her high level of commitment, enthusiasm, and innovative approach helped raise $22,500 to help the spread of the program to remote indigenous communities), writing for local and University magazines and newspapers, dancing, running, playing piano, and raising her pet poodle and hamster.