Ousama Raek Al Shanaa is a Syrian PhD candidate from Damascus, who currently lives and works in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. In 2013 Ousama received his BSc in microbiology from the University of Surrey, UK. His work focused on the investigation of the control of antibiotic production in Streptomyces coelicolor. He found a number of putative RNA-chaperon proteins that bind to snRNAs in this bacterium. Ousama then realised the importance of in silico technologies in biology, so he decided to grow his skills in molecular docking. He applied for postgraduate programme at Peter's the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russia. He was accepted at the faculty of physics, the department of biophysics. His work included site-directed mutagenesis on trehalose/maltose-binding protein from the hyperthemophilic archeon Thermococcus litoralis. The aim of the project was to decease the protein-glucose dissociation constant in order to design the sensitive element of a glucose biosensor relying on fluorescence technology. In 2018 Ousama received his MSc in biophysics after successfully developing a number of mutations that fit the glycaemic physiological concentrations in humans. Currently, Ousama is doing his PhD at Saint-Petersburg State University, where he is studying the synthesis of RNA aptamers and nanoparticles in yeasts. Ousama's work is mainly around microbial genetics and RNA technologies. Ousama is advanced in Arabic, English, and Russian languages.