Profile banner
Sofya Lebedeva

Sofya Lebedeva

PhD student in Clinical Medicine at Oxford; biosecurity researcher & organiser

sofyalebedeva
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Joined September 2025
Favicon imagesofyalebedeva.substack.com
Favicon imagegtc.ox.ac.uk
Favicon imageoxfordbiosecuritygroup.com
Favicon imagebioforecasting.substack.com
Favicon imagecharityentrepreneurship.com

Network

2.9K connections
🧬
Oxford Biosciences Research
🤖
AI Computational Biology
❤️
Effective Altruism Community
🏛️
Biosecurity Policy Experts
🛡️
Biosecurity Initiatives Founders
đź’ˇ
ARIA Leaders
🇪🇺
EU Policy

Summary

Organiser and founder in early-career biosecurity: Sofya has co-founded and run multiple biosecurity-focused organisations (Oxford Biosecurity Group, ARMoR) and helped spin out the Biosecurity Forecasting Group. She focuses on creating practical project and career-entry opportunities for early-career people interested in biosecurity. oxfordbiosecuritygroup+2
PhD researcher combining immunology, genomics and statistics: Her doctoral work at Oxford (Clinical Medicine / Ansari Lab) uses bioinformatics, statistics and genomics to study host–pathogen interactions (e.g., hepatitis C), showing a blend of wet‑lab background and computational analysis. ac+1
Early-career lab and bioautomation experience: As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley she held research and internship roles (Catena Biosciences, QWEST / LBNL) and was a bioautomation partner helping open-cloud experimental biology programmes—giving practical lab, experimental, and community-building experience. alignbio+2
Science communication and community engagement: Maintains a public Substack ('Molecular Meditations'), gives talks and interviews (EA Forum interview, Futurized podcast), and has been active in student and community leadership (Effective Altruism at UC Berkeley), indicating strengths in communicating technical ideas and recruiting/building communities. substack+2

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Biosecurity Activism — Podcast interview (Futurized)

May 1, 2024

Podcast interview discussing biosecurity, immunology, and career choices at the intersection of risk and synthetic biology.

Favicon imagefuturized.org

Pursuing ambitious projects in biosecurity — Interview (EA Forum)

April 1, 2024

A long-form interview on the Effective Altruism Forum discussing career development in biosecurity, organisational building (ARMOR, OBG), and skills for the field.

Favicon imageforum.effectivealtruism.org

Beyond Microbial Resistance: Nonprofit Roadmap to AMR Solutions — Talk (Foresight / YouTube)

December 1, 2023

Talk / recorded session presenting the problem of antimicrobial resistance and nonprofit strategies (associated with ARMoR work).

Favicon imagecharityentrepreneurship.com

Molecular Meditations (Substack) — PhD updates and biosecurity posts

January 1, 2023

Substack publication with posts on bioinformatics, immunology, pandemic resilience, and PhD progress (e.g., 'PhD December 2024 Updates', and other essays on biosecurity and lab practice).

Favicon imagesofyalebedeva.substack.com

Hobbies

Calisthenics, yoga, weightlifting, painting and traveling ac

Notes

JMJames Montavonsaid
SLSofya Lebedeva 🔸
stands out to them as someone who is deeply driven to prevent future pandemics through their work.

Nov 6, 2025