Eugenia Poliakov obtained her doctoral degree in Chemistry from the Case Western University, Chemistry Department, Cleveland, OH. She completed her postdoctoral training at the National Eye Institute, NIH. She joined LRCMB as staff scientist in November 2006. Her major scientific focus is beta-carotene oxygenases 1 and 2 and their role in carotenoid metabolism and vitamin A biosynthesis. She is focused on the design of small molecule inhibitors for carotene oxygenases and the closely related RPE65 isomerase.