Professor Baranova received her M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering (1999) and Ph.D in Chemistry (2003) from the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Engineering (Ukraine). She then pursued her studies at the Institute of Chemical Science and Engineering at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), where she completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Ch. Comninellis in 2005.
During her Ph.D. she spent several months in the laboratory of Prof. C.G. Vayenas at the University of Patras (Greece). She became a NSERC post-doctoral fellow in 2005 and later a research associate with the National Research Council Canada, Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology. Professor Baranova's research there was focused on nano-structured electrocatalytic materials for direct methanol and hydrogen fuel cells. She subsequently worked as a senior scientist at Abbott Point of Care on the project related to the biosensors before joining the University of Ottawa as an assistant professor in 2008.
Her current research focuses on electrochemical promotion of catalytic reactions for environmental protection and the design of novel catalytic systems. Professor Baranova's interests include synthesis, characterization and application of well-defined nanoscopic metals, alloys and composites to catalysis and fuel cells.