MSc Molecular Biomedicine students - Entry Year of 2019
Konstantinos Ntatsoulis was born in Athens, Greece in 1996. He obtained his Barchelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from the University of Thessaly in 2019. He conducted his dissertation thesis entitled “Study of cardiac dysfunction and associated pathologies in the lung and other organs in an animal model of heart failure” in the Laboratory of Cell Biology at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, under the supervision of Dr. Stelios Psarras (2017-2018). After his graduation he did an internship in the same laboratory studying the role of galectin-3 in angiogenesis in the heart in the desmin-deficient mouse model of heart failure. Konstantinos has attended the MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" and he graduated in December 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vassilis Aidinis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Dimitris Kontoyiannis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Vassilis Aidinis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Graduate Research Assistant — NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University, School of Medicine (Prof. Ioannis Aifantis Lab), New York, NY, USA
Konstantina Georgakopoulou was born in Piraeus, Greece in 1995. She acquired her Bachelor’s degree from the Biology Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She conducted her dissertation thesis in the Biophysics and Bioinformatics Laboratory of NKUA, under the supervision of the Assistant Professor Vasiliki Iconomidou. Her thesis title was ‘’Self-aggregation studies on peptide-analogues of E.coli type I fimbriae’’ where she utilized structural biology methods and performed computational analyses to develop novel therapeutic agents against urinary tract infections. She also joined the team of Dr. Anna Obenauf in the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Austria as an Erasmus intern. During that time, she helped elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying rare skin cancers and, more specifically, generate tools to study the contribution of a previously undescribed virus in a rare skin cancer. Konstantina has attended the MSc in Molecular Biomedicine organized by the Medical School of NKUA in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" and graduated in February 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Giannis Pateras, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Graduate Research Assistant — Department of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (Dr. Apostolos Klinakis Lab), Athens, Greece
Ioannis Chiotakakos obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the Democritus University of Thrace. His dissertation thesis title was “Investigating the interaction of DNA repair mechanisms and telomere elongation in neoplasia” and was conducted in Dr Sarantis Gagos’ lab in BRFAA, where he studied the newly discovered EXD2 exonuclease, and its effect in DNA repair and telomeres. He has also done a 2 month internship in the same lab. His passion for discovering disease underlying causes and about biomedical research in general, led him to attend “Molecular Biomedicine” Master’s Course at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with BSRC Alexander Fleming. Ioannis graduated from the MSc in March 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Vassilis Gorgoulis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. George Kollias, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Pantelis Hatzis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Postgraduate Associate — Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) - Yale University (Prof. Nadya Dimitrova Lab), New Haven, CT, USA
Christina Katzastra obtained her BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the Democritus University of Thrace. She conducted her dissertation thesis titled "Estimation of antioxidant and mutagenic or antimutagenic potential of a novel biosurfactant isolated from marine bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas" under the supervision of Dr. Aglaia Pappa, at the Toxicology and Physiology of the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. After graduation, Christina joined the Erasmus Traineeship program, where she was a four-month intern at the Center of Molecular Biology Heidelberg (ZMBH), focusing mainly on the nucleopore biogenesis. She then enrolled in the International MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", from which she graduated in March 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Georgina Xanthou, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis, Hellenic Pasteur Institute
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis, Hellenic Pasteur Institute
● Scientific Associate — Intelligencia.ai, Athens, Greece
Camelia Sidahmet studied Chemistry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She conducted her BSc thesis project on the synthesis and study of hydroxamic acids with anticancer properties in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory of the Chemistry Department, under the supervision of professor George Kokotos. During her undergraduate studies, she also completed a laboratory internship at the Immunology department of Bioiatriki SA, a leading diagnostic center in Athens. She joined SciCo, a science communication organisation, in 2016 as a volunteer and ambassador. She has since worked at this organisation as a STEM educator and a science writer, writing articles covering mainly biochemical topics for a Greek newspaper. She then attended the Master's Program in Molecular Biomedicine at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" and graduated in March 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Thanos Kotsinas, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vassilis Aidinis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Alexandros Pintzas, National Hellenic Research Foundation
● Scientific Associate — Intelligencia.ai, Athens, Greece
Maria Anna Maniou was born in Athens in 1996. She graduated from the Biology department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2019. During her internship and her dissertation thesis in the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Immunology at Hellenic Pasteur Institute she worked on the “Characterization of lymphocyte response after antigen specific immunotherapy of experimental myasthenia gravis” under the supervision of Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis in collaboration with Professor Ourania Tsitsiloni (NKUA). Before her graduation, she participated in the Erasmus+ traineeship program, at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurophysiology, of the Maastricht University, under the supervision of Dr. Mario Losen and Professor Pilar Martinez. She enrolled in the Master's Program in Molecular Biomedicine at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" and graduated in December 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vasiliki Koliaraki, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Tsoumakidou, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Tsoumakidou, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Scientific Associate — Intelligencia.ai, Athens, Greece
Eleni Ntoukaki was born in Athens in 1996. She graduated from the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Democritus University of Thrace in 2019. She conducted her dissertation thesis in the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Immunology at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, on ‘Elucidation of tolerance mechanisms involved in a novel therapy for Myasthenia Gravis’, under the supervision of Dr. Lazaridis. Following her graduation, she continued participating in research projects in the Laboratory of Immunology at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute. Eleni’s interests expand greatly in the field of Immunology and more specifically in the mechanisms of autoimmune diseases, as well as possible therapeutic approaches that focus on the regulation of the immune system. In order to advance her knowledge and skills, and achieve her future career goals, she decided to attend the Molecular Biomedicine MSc program at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC Alexander Fleming Institute, from which she graduated in March 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Mihalis Verykokakis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Evangelos Andreakos, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis, Hellenic Pasteur Institute
Marianna Kokoli was born in Athens in 1995. She received her Bachelor degree from the Department of Chemistry of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her thesis was conducted in the field of Bioinorganic chemistry in the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Athens, under the supervision of Dr. Christiana Mitsopoulou. During her studies, she was a four-month trainee in the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” under the supervision of Dr. Eleni Efthimiadou, in the field of Nanomedicine and DNA binding studies. She also performed a four-month internship, funded by Erasmus+ program, at the Center for Molecular Biology “Severo Ochoa” in Madrid, Spain, where she gained valuable experience and insight in the biomedical research. There, she joined Dr. Ignacio Sandoval’s group in the Department of Cell Biology and Immunology, under the supervision of Dr. Vasiliki Lalioti, and participated in two projects: the study of the role of Extended Synaptotagmins 1&3 (E-Syt1 & E-Syt3) in Lipid Droplets Biogenesis and the Traffic of ATP7B in Wilson’s Disease. Marianna decided then to attend the MSc program “Molecular Biomedicine” of the Medical School of the University of Athens in collaboration with BSRC “Alexander Fleming”, as it has always been her age-long ambition to enrich her knowledge in this field. She graduated in June 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Spiros Georgopoulos, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. George Panayotou, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Kostas Vekrellis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● PhD student — Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC) - Helmholtz Association (Prof. Dr. Matthias Selbach Lab), Berlin, Germany
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Grigoris Papadopoulos performed his undergraduate studies in the department of Biology of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he received the respective Bachelor’s Degree. Following a two-month internship in the field of BioBanking, accompanied by another 12-month working experience at the facilities of the Hellenic Cord Blood Bank (HCBB) of the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA), he also conducted in the aforementioned laboratories of HCBB his dissertation thesis, whose title was “Culture, Characterization and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells derived from the human Umbilical Cord’s Wharton’s Jelly into Neural Progenitor Cells”. The supervisors of this project were the Director of HCBB, Dr. Aikaterini Stavropoulos-Giokas and Quality Control Manager of HCBB, Dr Efstathios Michalopoulos, Researcher B’ in BRFAA. Grigoris has undertaken the International MSc course in Molecular Biomedicine at the Medical School of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" and graduated in December 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Efthimios Skoulakis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD student — Department of Physiology, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou Lab), Athens, Greece
Farinta Giakoub graduated from the Biology department of the University of Thrace and obtained her Bachelor degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Her dissertation project was at the Cell Biology, Cell Cycle and Proteomics laboratory, at the homonymous department. During this project I learned more about cell cycle and the way that proteins co-operate or not. Specially, during my research she examined documents related to AURORA B and how it regulates the expression of another protein, named HURP. I examine the concentration of HURP in different cancer breast cell lines and the way that taxans (TAXOL) work and stabilize the microtubules. She also used confocal microscopy to optimize the diversity of the expression levels of HURP protein for different breast cancer cell lines. Farinta has attended the MSc program “Molecular Biomedicine” of the Medical School of the University of Athens in collaboration with BSRC “Alexander Fleming” and graduated in December 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Despina Sanoudou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Maria Gazouli, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Prof. Maria Gazouli, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Christos Karakostas graduated from the Department of Biology of the University of Athens. His dissertation thesis was entitled “Screening of highly effective viral replication inhibitors and characterization of their genetic mechanisms of action via adaptive changes in the viral genome and the host-cell” and was conducted at the Laboratory of Molecular Virology in Hellenic Pasteur Institute, under the supervision of Dr. Vassilaki. During this, he went familiar with a variety with molecular and cellular techniques and focused on viruses and especially Flaviviridae. He has joined the International MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the Medical School of NKUA in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" in the fall 2019 and graduated in December 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Paschalis Sideras, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maya Roubelakis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Maya Roubelakis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD student — Department of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Elisavet Ioannidou was born in Athens, Greece in 1997. She graduated from the department of Biology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2019, after 4 years of studies, with grade “Excellent”. Her degree thesis entitled “Immunometabolic virus-host interactions in hepatitis C infection” was completed in Laboratory of Molecular Virology of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute under the supervision of Dr. Pelagia Foka and Prof. Ourania Tsitsilonis. During her undergraduate studies, she undertook a 2-month internship in the Department of Immunology – Histocompatibility of the “Evangelismos” General Hospital in Athens. She then joined the MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the BSRC Alexander Fleming. Her main fields of interest were Immunology and Metabolism and her future plans are to pursue an academic research career. Elisavet graduated in November 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Eleni Douni, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Trias Thiraiou, Agricultural University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Eleni Douni, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● PhD student — Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming" (Dr. Eleni Douni Lab), Athens, Greece
Nafsika Karamasioti was born and raised in Athens. She graduated from the Biology Department of the University of Crete with specialization in Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology. During the 3rd year of her studies, she worked in the mammalian cell culture facility of IMBB, FORTH in Heraklion. She did her bachelor thesis in the Chromatin and Gene Expression lab of IMBB, FORTH and worked on the effect of PML-IV in the cell cycle and self-renewal ability of breast cancer cell lines. She also did a 4month internship in the biochemistry lab of Apivita where she worked on the in vitro evaluation of natural extracts. She did a 3month Erasmus+ internship in the Chromatin and Gene Expression lab of CRG in Barcelona where she worked on the optimization of scHiC and scATAC-seq protocols in a breast cancer cell line. In order to further solidify her background and gain strong expertise in the biomedical field, she decided to attend the Molecular Biomedicine MSc program at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". Nafsika graduated in November 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Evangelos Andreakos, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Panayota Kafasla, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Evangelos Andreakos, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Scientific Associate — Intelligencia.ai, Athens, Greece
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Michalina Sikorska was born in 1997, in Poland. She studied Biotechnology Engineering at the University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She has been a member of course called Advanced Molecular and Cell Cultures Techniques under supervision of an outstanding scientist, Professor Takashi Kuwana, who is a microsurgeon and works for the Institute of Advanced Technology, at Kinki University in Japan. She participated in Erasmus studies programme in Padova (Italy) and then in Athens, at the Agricultural University of Athens. Furthermore, she has been a summer intern at the Agricultural University of Athens. She then joined the MSc program “Molecular Biomedicine” of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with BSRC "Alexander Fleming". Michalina graduated in August 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation: Dr. Aleksandra Dunisławska, UTP – University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD Student — Department of Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Warsaw (Prof. Hanna Pituch), Warsaw, Poland
Fotini Koukouzeli was born in Athens in 1996. She received her Bachelor’s Degree (2018) from the Department of Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her dissertation project was conducted at the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Scorilas, titled “Study of gene expression in cancer cells, using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data”. Upon graduation, she joined Dr. Politis’ lab at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA), where she participated in a project concerning the role of the transcription factor Prox1 in breast cancer. Fotini enrolled in 2019 in the international MSc Program “Molecular Biomedicine” at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC “Alexander Fleming” and she graduated in February 2022.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Panayotis Verginis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
Sofia Zafeiropoulou obtained her B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Crete. Her undergraduate dissertation entitled: “Age-related changes in endometrial cell function and differential gene expression that affect receptivity of human endometrium” was conducted at the Human Reproduction Laboratory at the Medical School of the University of Crete, under the supervision of Professor Antonis Makrigiannakis and Dr. Aikaterini Berdiaki. She then enrolled in the MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the BSRC Alexander Fleming and graduated in November 2021.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maya Roubelakis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. George Pavlopoulos, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. George Pavlopoulos, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"