I am Svitlana Lukicheva, a computer scientist and bioinformatician driven by curiosity about how living systems work. I spend my working days asking computers biological questions and developing methods to understand genomes and gene regulation.
Away from the computer, I grow a Belgian tropical jungle, collect beautiful and frequently dramatic Marantaceae, and devote part of my time to animal protection. The subjects may look unrelated, but apparently I enjoy complicated living systems in every possible form.
What you will find here
Three rather different parts of my life, gathered here without pretending that they are a perfectly logical combination.
Research
I develop computational methods for genomics, genome assembly, single-cell transcriptomics and gene regulatory network inference.
Discover my researchPlants
What began as an attempt to stop killing houseplants became a collection of tropical leafy divas, with a particular focus on Marantaceae.
Enter my Belgian tropicsAnimal protection
After years of shelter volunteering and fostering animals, I co-founded HumAnima to help abandoned animals find safety and new families.
Read my animal-protection storyFeatured collection
Discover prayer plants from my collection, explore them by genus, and meet the beautiful, dramatic and occasionally uncooperative plants growing in my Belgian tropics.
Collected from growers around the world, each plant has its own profile and photographs. Some reward me with flowers or even seeds; others mainly specialize in making me nervous.
Explore the collection
Beyond the website
I share my life with my partner, whose enthusiasm for technology may possibly exceed my own, our son, who possesses encyclopedic knowledge of Mario Bros, and Bornéo, our black and impressively round cat.
Together, they provide technical discussions, gaming expertise and a reliable supply of feline chaos. They are also remarkably tolerant of the plants gradually occupying our home.