Tamara Babic, PhD, began her career at IMGGE as a volunteer during her undergraduate studies and continued through her master’s thesis and PhD in the field of human molecular biology. Her research development followed an evolutionary progression in two directions – thematically, from lower organism models toward humans, and methodologically, from studying whole organisms to individual cells. During her doctoral studies, she focused on fundamental research and gained expertise in analyzing the structure and function of diverse regulatory genetic elements. Her findings related to dysregulation of the promoter activity coincided with global studies that highlighted the importance of this phenomenon on a large scale, which added further value to her results. The discovery of a novel RNA molecule, the main outcome of her thesis, inspired her to delve deeper into the complex world of RNA and their roles in different physiological contexts. In her future work, Tamara plans to combine modern high-throughput approaches with classical molecular biology methods, bridging systems and synthetic biology to translate fundamental biological knowledge into biomedical applications. She believes that collaboration with colleagues from physics and chemistry, who approach biological systems and signals from a different perspective, will be invaluable for this endeavor. As a freshly minted PhD, she is currently engaged in various research projects, acquiring new skills, particularly in bioinformatics, and planning directions for future development. In addition to her research, she is dedicated to teaching and mentoring students, as well as science communication. Outside of science, Tamara used to enjoy Latin dances, while nowadays she mostly balances between fundamental biology and applied parental genetics – raising two children, with occasional relaxation through escape room games.