MSc Molecular Biomedicine students - Entry Year of 2021
Petros Antonoglou was born in Rhodes, Greece in 1998. He graduated from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) in 2021. As an undergraduate student he conducted his diploma thesis “The role of HURP protein in the resistance of human breast and cervical cancer to Taxol” at the Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Cell Cycle and Proteomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics under the supervision of Dr. Maria Koffa. He also completed a two-month internship in the same lab. Petros has attended the International MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine, held by the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". During the course of his Master, Petros had followed the Blended Intensive Program (BIP) "Technical Innovations: Applications to Immuno-Oncology" organized by the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the Aix-Marseille Université, France). Petros has graduated from the MSc program in June 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Prof. George Kollias, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vasiliki Koliaraki, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Vasiliki Koliaraki, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● PhD student — Department of Chemical Biology (Dr. Christina Glytsou Lab), Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
Eleni (Lena) Aplakidou was born in Veria, Greece in 1998. She graduated from the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) in 2021. As an undergraduate student, she performed her research under the supervision of Prof. Marirena Grigoriou at the laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology and Neurobiology and studied the development of the embryonic mouse brain. Her bachelor thesis entitled “The role of Gabaergic system in footshock habituation in Drosophila melanogaster” was conducted in the field of Behavioral Neurobiology under the supervision of Dr. Efthimios Skoulakis at the Biomedical Sciences Research Center (BSRC) "Alexander Fleming" in Athens. After graduation, she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Skoulakis laboratory on the genetic mechanisms underlying habituation and associative learning. Eleni has attended the International MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine, organized by the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". During the course of her Master, Lena had been selected among the top Greek Graduate Students to perform a 6-month Internship at DEMO Pharmaceuticals S.A. in Athens, Greece. She was also awarded a Prize & a Scholarship provided by the company to support her internship. Lena has graduated from the MSc program in July 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Marilena Nikolopoulou, DEMO Pharmaceuticals S.A.
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. George Pavlopoulos, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Efthimios Skoulakis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● PhD student — Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming" (Dr. George Pavlopoulos Lab), Athens, Greece
Aikaterini (Katerina) Avdi was born in Athens, Greece in 1997. She acquired her Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Biology of the University of Patras in 2021. She conducted her dissertation thesis, entitled “In vitro study of the effect of cannabinoid receptors on short-term synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus” at the department of Physiology of the Medical school of the University of Patras under the supervision of Dr. Costas Papatheodoropoulos. During her dissertation thesis, she specialized in the field of electrophysiology and worked with animal models. Katerina has attended the MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine at the Medical School of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in November 2023. During the course of her Master, Katerina has attended the 2nd ICI-CIVIS Summer School: "Organoid models in immunology-oncology" co-organized by the MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine and the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the Aix-Marseille Université, France).
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Themis Alissafi, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD student — 1st Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine and Joint Rheumatology Program (Prof. Petros Sfikakis), Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Polina Dimitrova was born in Bulgaria in 1997. She graduated from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH). At the end of the third year of her undergraduate studies, she did an internship in the Laboratory of Cancer Genetics, DUTH. She conducted in the same laboratory her dissertation thesis, entitled “A study of the differential expression of AKT1 and AKT2 kinases in the mouse mammary gland epithelium and stroma and its effects on the proliferative activity of epithelial cells” under the supervision of Prof. Ioanna Maroulakou. During her undergraduate studies, she has been also or one year a member of the Laboratory of Histology and Embryology of the Medical School of DUTH. Polina has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Pantelis Hatzis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. George Kollias, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Prof. George Kollias, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● PhD student — Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (Dr. Joris van der Veeken Lab), Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
Vasiliki-Maria (Vasilina) Farantzou was born in Athens, Greece in 1995. She graduated from the department of Biological Applications and Technologies (BAT) of the University of Ioannina in Greece, after a 5-years course, and obtained an Integrated Master’s Degree in July 2021. Her dissertation thesis was conducted at the Basic Research Center of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Academy of Athens (BRFAA) and her project focused on “the role of the long non-coding RNA LockD in nervous system development”. Vasilina conducted her research under the supervision of Dr. Panagiotis Politis in his laboratory at BRFAA and Prof. Theologos Michailidis at the department of BAT of the University of Ioannina. Vasiliki-Maria Farantzou has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in October 2023. During the course of her Master, Vasilina has attended the Blended Intensive Program (BIP): "Technical Innovations: Applications to Immuno-Oncology" organized by the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the Aix-Marseille Université, France).
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vasiliki Koliaraki, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Mihalis Verykokakis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
Dimitra Fousfouka was born in Chios, Greece in 1995. She graduated from the department of Biotechnology at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA). During her undergraduate studies, she performed an internship at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), in the Institute of Chemical Biology, where she was trained in epigenetics under the supervision of Dr. Panagiotis Georgiadis. Afterwards, she completed her training in molecular biology and stem cell research in the laboratory of Dr. Costis Papanayotou at the Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens (BRFAA), conducting her thesis research on the activity of the AR1 cardiac enhancer of the Nkx2.5 gene in mouse embryonic stem cells. Then, she completed a two-month Erasmus+ traineeship at The Roslin Institute and the Royal School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, under the supervision of Dr. Anna E. Karagianni and Prof. Scott Pirie. She investigated the effect of training on the immune response of the equine respiratory system at the level of the airway derived macrophages. Dimitra has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Tsoumakidou, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Antonis Stamatakis, Nursing School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Antonis Stamatakis, Nursing School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Elena Gialinaki was born in Chania (Crete), Greece in 1997. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and biotechnology from the university of Thessaly in 2020. She conducted her dissertation thesis titled “the effect of mutation to the DNAH5 gene on male infertility” in the laboratory of genetics, comparative and evolutionary biology under the supervision of Dr. Zisis Mamouris. She also conducted an internship through the Erasmus+ Program in the institute for translational genomics in the Helmholtz Center in Munich, Germany. Elena has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Christos Consoulas, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Xilouri, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Prof. Leonidas Stefanis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Guest Researcher — Brain Repair and Imaging in Neural Systems (BRAINS) Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden
Eirini Giannousi was born in Greece in 1998. She obtained her Integrated Master’s degree in Biotechnology from the Agricultural University of Athens in 2021 with honors. She carried out a 4-month internship at the Department of Physiology of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). During her internship Eirini took up research projects related to tissue engineering and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) for which she performed a wide range of cellular and molecular methods. Additionally, within the same group, she conducted her Diploma Dissertation “Characterization of Immune Landscape in Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Mass Cytometry” under the supervision of Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou. She had the opportunity to gain experience in single cell isolation from human tissues and blood, and in CyTOF analysis. Eirini has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in October 2023. During the course of her Master, Eirini has attended the Blended Intensive Program (BIP): "Experimental Models in Molecular Biomedicine" co-organized by the MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine and the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain).
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Panagiota Kafasla, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Panagiota Kafasla, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● PhD student — Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Prof. Eva Kassi Lab, in collaboration with Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou Lab), Athens, Greece
Vasiliki Glynou was born in Athens, Greece in 1995. She acquired her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She conducted her diploma thesis entitled “Causal association of HPV with oral pharyngeal cancer: Sequence analysis of E7-Rb binding site” under the supervision of Prof. Amanda Psyrri and Prof. Andreas Scorilas, in Dr. Psyrri’s laboratory at "Attikon" University Hospital (NKUA). Her research interest focused on the knockdown of HPV16 E6 and E7 genes and its association with p53, pRb and PD-L1 molecules. Vasiliki had also done in the same laboratory a six-month internship, which was related with immuno-oncology research and clinical studies in immunotherapy drugs. Moreover, she completed a two-month internship in the Biopathological laboratory of "Eginiteio" University Hospital (NKUA), under the supervision of Prof. Stylianos Chatzipanagiotou, and acquired there several laboratory techniques in the fields of microbiology, biochemistry, hematology, molecular biology and immunology. Vasiliki has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in October 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Evangelos Andreakos, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Christoforos Nikolaou, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Panayotis Verginis, Medical School, University of Crete
● Product Information Officer — Pharmathen SA, Athens, Greece
Aikaterini (Katerina) Kalandrani was born in Athens, Greece in 1998. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2020 from the University of Patras. During the last year of her studies, she conducted her dissertation thesis at the Department of Medicine of the University of Patras, within the Sector of Electrophysiology, under the supervision of Prof. Costas Papatheodoropoulos and Pavlos Rigas. There, she conducted her research on the Fragile X Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder. After her graduation, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Efthimios Skoulakis at the BSRC "Alexander Fleming" and performed a six-month research internship, focusing on the tau protein. Today, Katerina is a master student of the International MSc Molecular Biomedicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". During the course of her Master, Katerina has attended the CIVIS Summer School: "Single-cell approaches and omics - Exploring the emerging role of the host microbiome in tumour heterogeneity" organized by the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the University of Bucharest, Romania).
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Pantelis Hatzis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Pantelis Hatzis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
Maria Kyriakidi was born in Athens, Greece in 1998. She graduated from the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 2021. Her dissertation thesis was entitled “Investigation of the enzymatic potential of ligninolytic fungi for the degradation of lignocellulosic biomass” and was conducted at the Laboratory of Biotechnology, under the supervision of Dr. Evangelos Topakas. As she aspires to broaden her horizons and pursue a career in the field of biomedical science and bioengineering, Maria has attended the International MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine, held by the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". During the course of her Master, Maria has also attended the 2nd ICI-CIVIS Summer School: "Organoid models in immunology-oncology" co-organized by the MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine and the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the Aix-Marseille Université, France). Maria has graduated from the MSc program in June 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Zoe Cournia, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisors: Prof. Petros Sfikakis / Dr. Kelly Vetsika, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisors: Prof. Petros Sfikakis / Dr. Kelly Vetsika, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD Student — 1st Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine and Joint Rheumatology Program (Dr. George Fragoulis - Prof. Petros Sfikakis), Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Eliana Markidi received her BSc degree from the department of Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in 2020. She conducted her diploma thesis in the neurodegenerative diseases laboratory of Prof. Leonidas Stefanis at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) under the supervision of Dr. Hardy Rideout and Dr. Panagiota Papazafiri. She studied there the LRRK2 Kinase activity associated with Parkinson’s disease. After her graduation, she went to Barcelona (Spain) for a four-month Erasmus+ traineeship at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, in the laboratory of Prof. Miquel Vila, to study the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease. Eliana has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Efthimios Skoulakis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Panagiotis Politis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Panagiotis Politis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Scientific Associate — Intelligencia.ai, Athens, Greece
Panagiota Milioti was born in Athens, Greece in 1997. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from University of Thessaly. Her dissertation thesis was conducted at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) under the supervision of Dr. Panagiotis Politis, and focused on the role of the nuclear receptor NR5A2 in glioblastoma metabolism. Driven by her enthusiasm for Cancer Research, she received a postgraduate Erasmus scholarship to work in Dr. George Poulogiannis laboratory at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, UK and investigate the molecular and metabolic fingerprints of PI3K/AKT pathway inhibition. Panagiota has attended the International MSc in Molecular Biomedicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". She has graduated from the program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Konstantinos Palikaras, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Clio Mavragani, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Roubelakis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Scientific Associate — Intelligencia.ai, Athens, Greece
Maria Minadaki was born in Heraklion (Crete), Greece. She graduated from the Department of Pharmacy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). She conducted her diploma thesis entitled “Pharmacogenomic approach of SSRIs in order to enhance clinical practice” at the Department of Pharmacology, AUTH under the supervision of Prof. Ioannis Vizirianakis. After the end of her studies, Maria completed a 9-month research placement at the Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry at the University of Crete (UoC) Medical School, where she worked with Dr. Maria Venihaki and studied the mechanism of action of neurosteroids in inflammation induced analgesia, in genetic ablation of Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70). Maria has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023. During the course of her Master, Maria has attended the Blended Intensive Program (BIP): "Drug design and discovery" organized by the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the University of Bucharest, Romania).
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Roubelakis, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Apostolos Klinakis, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Prof. Despina Sanoudou, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Scientific Affairs Associate — Pharminnova P.C., Athens, Greece
Eleftheria-Dimitra Ntouskou was born in Austin, Texas in 1997. She obtained her BSc degree in Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in 2021. During her undergraduate studies, she did a 2-month internship in the laboratories of Prof. Eleni Douni and Dr. George Panayotou in 2019 at the Biomedical Sciences Research Center (BSRC) "Alexander Fleming". Her dissertation thesis, entitled “Molecular and imaging study of anti-osteoporotic treatments in Tg-RANKL transgenic osteoporotic models” which investigated Denosumab discontinuation in osteoporotic transgenic mice overexpressing human RANKL, was conducted in the Laboratory of Prof. Eleni Douni, under the supervision of both Prof. Douni and Prof. Ourania Tsitsilonis. Dimitra has attended the International MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine offered by the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". During the course of her Master, Dimitra has followed the Blended Intensive Program (BIP): "Technical Innovations: Applications to Immuno-Oncology" organized by the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the Aix-Marseille Université, France). Dimitra has graduated from the MSc program in June 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vassilis Aidinis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Dimitris Kontoyiannis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Vassilis Aidinis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Medical writer, InSciSol - Integrated Scientific Solutions, Athens, Greece
Panagiota Pantiora was born in Athens, Greece in 1997. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the Biotechnology Department of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA). Her dissertation thesis, entitled “Inhibition activity of curcumin derivatives against the glutathione S-transferase enzyme” was conducted in 2020 in the Laboratory of Enzyme Technology of the Department of Biotechnology of AUA under the supervision of Prof. Nikolaos Lambrou, in collaboration with Research Director Dr. Maria Pelecanou from the National Center of Scientific Research “DEMOKRITOS” (NCSRD). Panagiota’s work was presented at the 71st National Conference of the Hellenic Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (HSBMB) in March 2021. She has also performed an additional 4-month internship in the Laboratory of Structural Studies of Biomolecules and Drugs of the NCSRD under the supervision of Dr. Maria Pelecanou. After her graduation, Panagiota has participated in the European Program “OPENSCREEN-GR”, an Open-Access Research Infrastructure for targeted scanning technologies and discovery of bioactive molecules for the protection of Health, Livestock, Agriculture and the Environment, in which she was involved in the study of interactions of bioactive molecules/biological substrates using biophysical, biochemical and cellular techniques. Panagiota has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Maria Gazouli, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Nikolaos Labrou, Agricultural University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Prof. Nikolaos Labrou, Agricultural University of Athens
● PhD student — Agricultural University of Athens - Department of Biotechnology (Prof. Nikolaos Labrou Lab), Athens, Greece
Antonis (Antoine) Roussos was born in Athens, Greece in 1996. He obtained his BSc and Integrated Master from the department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) in 2020. He conducted his dissertation thesis entitled “Molecular Modeling & Bioinformatics Study of Transmembrane Transmission System of Lactic Acid as a Cellular Target of New Chemotherapeutic Agents” at the laboratory of Genetics of AUA under the supervision of Dr. Dimitrios Vlachakis. During his undergraduate studies, he did a one-month Internship at the laboratory of genetics under the supervision of Dr. Nikolaos Kosmidis using the genetic models Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) and Dacus oleae (olive fruit fly, a major pest in the Mediterranean region). Antonis went to Scotland, UK, for a four-month Internship with Erasmus+ program. He performed his lab internship at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Dr. Anna Eleonora Karagianni and studied the “Immunomodulatory effects of race training at the level of airway derived immune cells”. Finally, in order to broaden both his knowledge and his skills and to acquire an innovative way of thinking and achieve his future career goals, Antonis enrolled in the International MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC “Alexander Fleming”. Antonis has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Maria Fousteri, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Konstantinos Palikaras, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Konstantinos Palikaras, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD student — Department of Physiology, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Dr. Konstantinos Palikaras Lab), Athens, Greece
Dimitra Spyropoulou was born in Athens, Greece in 1998. She received her BSc from the Biology Department of the University of Crete (UoC), with a specialization in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Her diploma thesis was conducted in the Laboratory of Child Health at the Medical School of the University of Crete, under the supervision of Dr. Eleni Vergadi and focused on the expression of the protein DEL-1 in adult and neonatal monocytes in inflammatory conditions. After graduation, she worked in the same lab for one year as a biologist on the project «NeoPhagES: Neonatal Phagocyte Enhancement in Sepsis» and she presented her work with two posters at the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases (Geneva, May 2021). Dimitra has attended the International MSc Program in Molecular Biomedicine of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming", and has graduated from the MSc program in September 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Themis Alissafi, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Dr. Vassilis Aidinis, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming"
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Themis Alissafi, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Administration assistant, Protavio Ltd, Athens, Greece
Valentini Tzimogianni was born in Greece in 1999. She graduated from the Department of Biology of the University of Patras (UoP) in 2021. She conducted her undergraduate research dissertation project entitled “Investigation of the nucleolus’ role in DNA damage response upon rereplication in Schizosaccharomyces pombe” in the Laboratory of General Biology of the School of Medicine of UoP under the supervision of Prof. Zoi Lygerou. She was also selected by her Department to perform an internship in the Molecular Oncology Laboratory of the General University Hospital of Patras under the supervision of Associate Prof. Angelos Koutras, where she gained valuable experience in several molecular techniques such as Western blot analysis, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, immunoprecipitation, cancer cell culture, DNA transfection, DNA and RNA isolation. Valentini has attended the International MSc program in Molecular Biomedicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the BSRC "Alexander Fleming". During the course of her Master, Valentini has followed the Blended Intensive Program (BIP): "Drug design and discovery" organized by the CIVIS Alliance of European Universities (at the University of Bucharest, Romania). Valentini has graduated from the MSc program in July 2023.
● First Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Dimitrios Boumpas, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens
● Second Rotation Supervisor: Prof. Athanasios Tzioufas, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● MSc Dissertation Supervisor: Prof. Aristides Eliopoulos, Medical School - National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
● PhD student — Cell Cycle Laboratory (Dr. Zoi Lygerou Lab), Department of General Biology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, Greece