Hello world!

My name is Karina. Where am I coming from? Geographically, London is my home; but I spend about half of my time travelling and work-from-homing in different countries. Cognitively, I am a mathematician; I think about any situation as a system of equations. Emotionally, I am just getting over the fact that I am probably a social butterfly; but I’m finding ways how it can make me a better friend, not a worse one. Here are four fun facts about me:

1. Travelling is my favourite thing

I've visited more than 40 countries so far. I avoid hotels when possible and I dislike tourist attractions. For me travelling is about exploring nature, architecture, cuisines and cultures around the world. Instead of visiting art galleries, I prefer to go for a walk looking for graffiti art. At night I prefer to wander around a busy port instead of pub crawling. Camping deep in a desert and hiking from the last stop of a rarely used train line are amongst the happiest memories I have. Keep reading>

2. I am a big city addict

I love the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. But in the long term, I only feel truly alive when I am in a big city. I love their idea density, their fast pace, and their excellence in food, street art and academic research. London, New Delhi, New York, Mexico City, Tokyo, Istanbul, Singapore - all of them have a distinct character, constantly evolving and yet totally unique. My goal is to visit all of the world’s biggest cities and the cities that are relatively small but are the biggest in their country or surrounding geographical area. Keep reading>

3. I did a PhD at the interface of machine learning and genomics

I spent 8 years in academia - I did a BSc in mathematics that I never finished, an MSc in mathematics and a PhD. My thesis was on applications of machine learning to single-cell transcriptomic data, with a chapter on de novo evolution of proteins. If you are considering whether to do a PhD or if you are already doing one and are feeling stuck, do get in touch. I'm good at asking the right questions to help you figure out what is right for you. Keep reading>

4. I am on a mission to reduce the negative impact of waste on climate, environment and health

To achieve this I founded Samudra.world, a systems accelerator. At Samudra we are experimenting with approaches and organisational structures that have not been tried before. Our strategy includes identifying success-relevant stakeholders and working with them to facilitate internal changes and enable powerful coordination between them. Keep reading>