Our Team!

iGEM Athens 2018 Undergraduate Team

Yannis Ntekas
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Systems Biotechnology
Music
Beer reviewing

Contributions:
Applied Design
Dry Lab
Human Practices

Maria Litsa
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Sketching
Being a cat mom
Reviewing albums

Contributions:
Project Design
Wet Lab
Human Practices

Vasilis Krokos
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Mathematics-Coding
Playing cards enthusiast
Not understanding biology and orthography

Contributions:
Dry Lab
Applied Design

Leda Katopodi
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Whales
Linguistics
Asian Culture

Contributions:
MD Simulations
Human Practices
Graphic Design

Nelly Kanata
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Applied Biotechnology
Literature
Travelling

Contributions:
Applied Design
Interlab
Fundraising

Natalia Bartzoka
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Musical Instruments
DIYs
Documentaries

Contributions:
Fundraising
Wet Lab

Stelios Kotzastratis
Computer Science @AUEB

Interests:
Informatics
Music
Philoshopy

Contributions:
Web Design
Image Editing

Elena Kostadima
Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Interests:
Sparkling
Half-reading books
Food reviewing

Contributions:
Interlab
Wet Lab
Social Media Management

Panos Spatharas
Biology @NKUA

Interests:
Structural Biology
Music and Cinema
Photography

Contributions:
Interlab
Biological Background Suppοrt
Homology Modeling

Our Supervisors

Pelagia Foka

Molecular Virology @Hellenic Pasteur Institute

Dr Pelagia (Peli) Foka holds a chemistry degree from University of Athens and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology from the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK. She has conducted post-doctoral studies at the departments of Biochemistry and Pharmacy in Cardiff University, before moving to the Molecular Virology department at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece, where she now holds a tenured-track position as Researcher Grade C’. Her research interests lie in the field of host-pathogen interactions in Hepatitis C and other viral infections, with a specific focus on cellular metabolism, inflammation and the innate response. She was recipient of Wellcome Trust and BBSRC fellowships and has been lately supported by the Hellenic Association for the Study of the Liver and Gilead Sciences Inc. She has published over 25 research papers in high impact factor journals and trained numerous final year project students as well as MScs, PhDs and postdocs.

Evangelos Topakas

Chemical Engineering @NTUA

Evangelos Topakas, assistant Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering, NTUA, has a degree in Chemistry (Aristotle University, Department of Chemistry, Thessaloniki, Greece) and he took his PhD in Industrial Biotechnology in 2004 at National Technical University of Athens (NTUA, Greece). He has worked as a Research Associate in the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne and in the Biotechnology Laboratory at NTUA. His research experience includes discovery of novel enzymes for the enzyme-aided extraction or modification of bioactive components from biomass, using conventional and modern bioinformatics assisted strategies heterologous overexpression and biochemical characterization of carbohydrate degrading recombinant enzymes, study of the structure/function relationship and regulatory mechanisms of the enzymes induced by saprophytic organisms. Emphasis is given on the utilization of residual biomass for the production of 2nd generation liquid biofuels and high-added value compounds. His group consists of four PhD students and is active in Protein Engineering, Recombinant DNA Technology, Biochemical Engineering and Biocatalysis.

Petros Eliades

Molecular Biology & Immunobiotechnology @Hellenic Pasteur Institute

Eliades Petros (PhD), is working as Staff Research Scientist grade C, in Lab. of Molecular Biology & Immunobiotechnology, Immunobiology Dept., at Hellenic Pasteur Institute. He received his BSc in Biology and obtained his PhD in Immunobiology (1991) from the Department of Biology, at Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece. During his research experience, he was involved in the generation of monoclonal antibodies for different antigens and the development of immunoenzymatic methods. In addition, he was involved in projects for the study of the role of apoptosis on pathogenicity of autoimmune thyroiditis (underlying the Fas/FasL pathway), the phenomenon of penetration of polyreactive anti-DNA antibodies in living cells and the study of Hepcidin molecule. He has expertise in methodologies and techniques concerning immunochemistry, cellular and molecular biology. Dr P. Eliades has published 9 papers on high impact scientific journals, has presented his work on Greek and international conferences with 24 posters and participate in pre-graduate and post graduate training, co- supervision and supervision of Diploma, MSc and PhD students.

Urania Georgopoulou

Molecular Virology @Hellenic Pasteur Institute

Dr. Urania Georgopoulou is biologist, Research Director of the laboratory of Molecular Virology at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute. She received her B.Sc. from the University of Patras, Greece, and her D.E.A. in Developmental Biology, from the University "Pierre et Marie Curie", Paris VI. She was a recipient of IKY and obtained her PhD. from the University of Paris XI-Orsay. Her research interest is focused on multiple aspects of virology. She worked with HSV-1 virus and discovered a new gene named US8.5. From 1998 her research interest focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control pathogenesis of hepatitis (HBV, HCV) infection and hepatocellular carcinoma. The ultimate goal of her research work is to identify and characterize pathogen-host interactions (in terms of molecules and pathways) that control basic pathogenic mechanisms, which may potentially lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets. She has developed viral expression systems producing HCV capsids and a number of stable cell lines expressing selected HCV proteins. This experience has been acquired with the help of national funding and bilateral EU funded projects. She was appointed by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology as Greek as national representative for infectious diseases. She has publications in peer reviewed international journals, holds one patent and serves as invited reviewer in scientific journals.

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Lab Instructors

Evie Petroulia

MSc Research Student @Hellenic Pasteur Institute

She studied Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and is currently completing her Master’s degree in Molecular Biomedicine. She has been working on her thesis at the Molecular Virology laboratory of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute researching on the two-way interaction between the epigenetic factor LSD-1 and HCV infection. She is highly interested in cancer biology and especially cancer immunotherapy.

Vanessa Valiakou

PhD Candidate @Hellenic Pasteur Institute

She studied Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and got her Master’s degree at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on the topic of “Clinical Biochemistry & Molecular Diagnostics”. During her studies, she has been particularly interested on breast cancer research. She is a PhD candidate at the Molecular Virology laboratory of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute focusing her research on how HCV affects lipid metabolism.

Georgia Papadopoulou

PhD Research Student @Hellenic Pasteur Institute

She studied Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Thessaly and got her Master’s degree at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on the topic of “Applications of Biology in Medicine”. She is a PhD student at the Molecular Virology Laboratory of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute focusing her research on hepatocellurar carcinoma in the context of viral infection and the study of key biomarkers.

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Team:Athens/Team

iGEM Athens 2018 Undergraduate Team

Our Supervisors

Lab Instructors

Contact Info: