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Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos, PhD (Principal Investigator) |
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Triantafyllos received a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 2003 (GPA: 9.34/10). The same year he joined the Chemical Engineering graduate program at the University of Minnesota, USA, to pursue his doctoral studies. He worked with Professor Victor Barocas on modelling the mechanical response of native and bioartificial tissues. During his doctoral studies, he was elected twice top doctoral student of the department. After the completion of his PhD, in May 2008, Triantafyllos worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Rakesh Jain's lab in the department of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, USA. In Dr. Jain's lab he performed research in a mixture of experimental and computational problems for optimizing the delivery of nanomedicine to solid tumours. In September 2010, he joined the faculty of the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Department at the University of Cyprus.
email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| Andreas Stylianou, PhD | ||
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Dr. Stylianou received a Diploma (Bachelor of Science/Master of Science) from the Department of Physics, School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Science, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, in 2007. The same year he joined the Biomedical Optics & Applied Biophysics Laboratory and the graduate program of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NTUA, to pursue his doctoral studies. Simultaneously with his PhD studies, he was awarded a Master of Science in Medical Physics (2011) from the Faculty of Science, The Open University, United Kingdom. After the completion of his PhD (2014), Dr. Stylianou worked (2015) as a Special Scientist at the Cyprus University of Technology, as a Scientific Collaborator at the European University of Cyprus and as a Part Time Lecturer at the Intercollege-Limassol Cyprus. In June 2015 he joined the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Cyprus, as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Post-doctoral Fellow (project "MYO-DESMOPLASIA: Modulating the behaviour of cancer myofibroblasts to control tumour desmoplasia)". Also in 2018 Dr. Stylianou received his second PhD in Health Care Management from the Faculty of Economics and Management, Open University of Cyprus. His overall research interests include the areas of Atomic Force Microscopy, Biomaterials-Collagen based biomaterials, Optical Radiation-Tissue Interactions (such as UV-collagen and Low Level Laser-collagen interactions), Cells-Biomaterials Interactions and Nanotechnology.He also worked as a post-doctoral research fellow for the project “''ReEngineeringCancer''”, while now he works for the projects PacaFingerPrints and CancerFingerPrints. Dr. Stylianou was recently awarded the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation - Cyprus Research Award – Young Researcher. Atomic Force Microscopy – Cancer Biophysics Laboratory Webpage email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Fotios Mpekris, PhD |
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Dr. Mpekris earned a BS degree (with an excellent GPA) in Physics from the University of Cyprus in 2012 and the same year, he joined with a scholarship the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Cyprus and the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory in particular as a PhD student. He defended his PhD thesis in November 2016. His research activity focuses on the study of the mechanical forces generated during tumor progression and how taming these forces can improve therapeutic outcomes in many cancers. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Chrysovalantis Voutouri, PhD |
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Dr. Voutouri received a Diploma (Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering) from the Department Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering of the University of Cyprus in 2013. The same year he joined the Department’s graduate program, and he worked in the lab on modelling the mechanical response of solid tumours. After the completion of his PhD (02/2018), Dr. Voutouri worked as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Cyprus. At the present stage, Dr. Voutouri holds a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Post-doctoral fellow (project "CancerCOtreat: Optimizing treatment of cancer patients infected with COVID-19 and other preconditions using mathematical modelling") working as a Principal Investigator at the Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, USA and the Cancer Biophysics Lab at the University of Cyprus. Extended CV email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Maria Kalli, PhD |
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Maria graduated from the University of Cyprus in 2014 with a BSc in Biological Sciences. Her undergraduate thesis work focused on the role of histone modifying enzymes in regulating gene expression. She then joined the MSc program in Biomedical Engineering at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing of the University of Cyprus. She is also working in the lab on the elucidation of how mechanical forces affect the properties of fibroblasts and cancer cells during the growth of solid tumours.
email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Myrofora Panagi, PhD |
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Myrofora Panagi obtained her Bachelor degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester. She continued her studies at the University of Nottingham where she obtained a Master's degree in Oncology. She performed her doctorate studies in Biomedical Sciences at University of Cyprus investigating the molecular links between stem cell mitosis and colorectal cancer in Drosophila midgut. Dr. Panagi joined the Cancer Biophysics laboratory in October 2017 as a Special Scientist and from 2020, she is working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing. Her research interests include the re-engineering of desmoplastic tumor microenvironment by targeting components of extracellular matrix aiming to alleviate intratumoral stresses and improve drug delivery and therapeutic outcome. She has hands on experience conducting efficacy studies with tumor models in mice, multi-parametric flow cytometry and general biological techniques including Western blotting, q-PCR, cell culture, immunohistochemistry and fluorescence microscopy. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Antonia Charalambous, PhD
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Antonia Charalambous obtained her BSc in Medical Microbiology in 2013 from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds, she then joined a Master’s programme at the School of Medicine where she obtained an MSc in Molecular Medicine. Her master’s thesis focused on a hydrophobic drug delivery system that aimed to effectively delivery and controllably through an Ultrasound pulse, trigger the release of anti-cancer agents. She then continued her master’s project on to a PhD study, where she broaden the research to further investigate the efficacy of the hydrophobic drug delivery system at delivering anti-cancer agents to cancer cells. Following, the completion of her PhD, she worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow investigating the delivery of oxygen to High-Risk Pregnancies at the University of Leeds. Dr Charalambous joined the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Cyprus in October 2022 as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow. |
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Constantinos Harkos
(PhD candidate)
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Harkos received a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Cyprus in 2019. The same year he joined the lab as a Ph.D. student. His work focuses on creating mathematical models for oncology applications. To achieve this, he uses principles of solid, fluid mechanics, and systems biology. He combines numerical methods (e.g. Finite Element Method) and optimization algorithms. He also improves the accuracy of his models with the use of Magnetic Resonance Images like MRI, DTI MRI, MRE. His goal is to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy in solid tumors by making predictions about the outcome of treatment.
email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Andreas Hadjigeorgiou (PhD candidate) |
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Andreas obtained his diploma in chemical engineering (2013-2018) from the National Technical University of Athens. He joined the Cancer and Biophysics Laboratory in September 2019 as a PhD student. He is interested in mathematical modelling of biological processes such as the growth of solid tumours. His dissertation aim is to improve the efficacy of immunotherapeutic drugs to solid tumours. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Christina Michael
(Special Scientist)
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Christina Michael obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Cyprus in 2016. She continued her studies at the same university and in 2020 she obtained her master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences. Her master thesis focused on the role of Toll innate immune pathway in epithelial to mesenchymal transition of oncogenic Drosophila hindgut enterocytes. After the completion of her master, Christina worked as a research assistant at the European University (2020). She joined the Cancer Biophysics laboratory in October 2020 as a Special Scientist
email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Antonia Papoui (Special Scientist) |
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Antonia graduated from the University of Ioannina, Greece in 2022 with an Integrated Master's Degree in Biological Applications and Technology. She worked as a clinical laboratory scientist at the General Hospital of Nicosia, Cyprus between September 2022 to January 2023. She joined the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory in February 2023 as a Special Scientist.
email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Demetris Englezos (Special Scientist) |
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Demetris Englezos received a Diploma in Mechanical and Energy Engineer from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece in 2020. He worked as Research/Energy Engineer in EMPA Research Institute of the ETH domain in Zurich, Switzerland between September 2019 and December 2020. Then, he joined the KIOS Research and Innovation center of excellence in Nicosia, Cyprus as Research Engineer where his research focused on the design of a digital twin architecture for smart buildings and machine learning algorithms. Since 2022, he holds a Master's degree in Data Science from the University of Cyprus. Demetris joined the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory as Deep Learning/Research Engineer in February 2023. His interests focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Kypros Stylianou
(Laboratory Technician)
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Kypros Stylianou received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Frederick Institute of Technology Cyprus, in 2007. In Nov 2008 he joined the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Cyprus, as a Laboratory Technician.
email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Alumni |
| Panos Papageorgis, PhD | ||
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Dr. Papageorgis is working as a Senior Scientist in the Cancer Biophysics laboratory at the University of Cyprus and he is also an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology in the Department of Health Sciences at the European University Cyprus. He received his BSc in Biology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2003 and his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology/Genetics and Genomics from Boston University, School of Medicine, in 2009. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cyprus and as a visiting scholar at Boston University School of Medicine and MGH/Harvard Medical School. He is a professional member of the American and European Associations for Cancer Research (AACR and EACR). His overall research interests include the elucidation of the genetic and epigenetic alterations that drive cancer progression and metastasis. More specifically, his work is focused on the identification and functional characterization of novel genes involved in cancer metastasis, using gene expression microarray analyses, a wide variety of molecular in vitro approaches as well as whole-body bioluminescence imaging in animal models. He is also interested in elucidating the roles of TGFβ signalling in epithelial and stromal components of the tumour that regulate cancer progression and drug delivery. His long term goal is to develop novel strategies to improve the efficacy of drug delivery in solid tumours and prevent cancer metastasis. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Christiana Polydorou, PhD | ||
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Dr. Polydorou obtained her BSc Degree in Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2006, and then a PhD degree in Molecular Biology from the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Cyprus. Subsequently, Dr Polydorou carried out research in Embryology as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR, Prague, Czech Republic, in the laboratory of Transgenic Models of Diseases, and also as a quest researcher at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Germany. She joined the lab in July 2014 and her current research focuses on the mechanics and drug delivery of solid tumours. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| Vasiliki Gkretsi, PhD | ||
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Dr. Gkretsi received her Diploma in Biology from the National and Kappodistrean University of Athens, Greece in 2001 and her Ph.D in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, USA in 2006.During her Ph.D training she received the 2005 American Society for Investigative Pathology Trainee Travel Award, the 2005-2006 Stephen L. Phillips Scientific Achievement Award, and a yellow ribbon award at the University's Honors Convocation 2006. Following completion of her Ph.D, she worked as post-doctoral fellow under the Marie Curie ITN program at the BSRC Al. Fleming in Athens, Greece. In Larissaacquired funding from Greek EU funded programs and was the recipient of the prestigious European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Sheila Sherlock award 2012 which was renewed in 2013.
Her current research is focusing on the study of the role of extracellular matrix (ECM), cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton in cancer progression and metastasis. In an attempt to better approximate the real tumor setting and microenvironment, she has developed 3-dimensional (3D) collagen-based culture systems with tunable stiffness to study the molecular mechanism of metastasis in vitro in cancer cells of different invasiveness. This approach takes also into account the cell-ECM interactions in 3D as well as the mechanical forces being exerted on the cells from the ECM. The ultimate goal would be the determination of the molecular mechanism driving cancer cell metastasis in relation to ECM stiffness and the identification of novel potential metastasis biomarkers or therapeutic targets.
In total, she has published 28 papers in peer reviewed international scientific journals. Her work has received 479 citations (Scopus, h index=13) and has been presented in 11 poster and 16 oral presentations in international scientific conferences. During 2010-2014, she served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Thessaly Medical School in Greece, while from 2014-2017 she served as a scientific collaborator at the European University of Cyprus. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor at the Biomedical Sciences Program, Department of Life Sciences, School of Sciences, European University Cyprus.
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| Athanassios Pirentis, PhD | ||
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Athanassios received a BSc (2004) in Physics from the University of Athens, Greece, and was awarded an MSc (2004) and a PhD (2010) in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics from the National Technical University of Athens. Thereafter, he received postdoctoral training at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, USA (2010–2011). He has also worked as seismic analyst and research assistant in the Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens (2005–2010). Athanassios joined the lab in March 2014. His work and research interests focus on mathematical modelling in mechanobiology, spanning from cytoskeletal mechanics up to the tissue scale, but also encompass such diverse fields as structural stability, cardioelectrophysiology, and seismology. |
| Ioannis Theodorou, PhD | ||
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Dr. Theodorou joined the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory in June 2018 as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellow. His research interests lie in the synthesis and functionalization of novel nanostructures and nanostructured assemblies, with an emphasis on advanced physicochemical characterization. He is particularly interested in harnessing nanomaterial properties for biological applications, including ultrasensitive disease diagnosis, drug delivery and therapy, and the development of novel antimicrobial agents. Dr. Theodorou received a Diploma in Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 2010. He completed his Master of Research (MRes) in Nanomaterials in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London in 2011, working on the characterization of biomolecules using scanning probe microscopy techniques. His doctoral work in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London and the London Centre for Nanotechnology, focused on the bioreactivity of inorganic nanomaterials in the lung and characterization of the nano-bio interface, mainly through state-of-the-art analytical electron microscopy. From 2014, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the same Department, developing plasmonic nanostructures for fluorescence-based biosensing and bioimaging applications. He is currently working at CBL to synthesize and test novel theranostic nanoparticles, which will combine high-resolution cancer imaging with multimodal treatment. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Stelios Angeli, PhD |
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Stelios I. Angeli was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1984. He received a BSc degree in Physics, specialized in Nuclear Physics, from the University of Athens, Greece, in 2008, and an MSc degree in Biomedical Engineering with Medical Physics from Imperial College, London, UK, in 2009. His research interests include finite element modelling and simulations of tumour biomechanics, biomedical imaging and analysis, and magnetic resonance imaging. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Maria Louca |
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Maria received a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Cyprus in 2015. Her senior project was elaborated at the Molecular Medicine Research Center (MMRC), University of Cyprus. Her undergraduate thesis subject was the evaluation of insertion and deletion of major parts of DNA on patients with familiar glomerulopathies. The same year she joined the PhD program at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing of the University of Cyprus. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Nikolas Christodoulou
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Nikolas graduated from the University of Cyprus in 2016 with a BSc in in Mechanical Engineering from
the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and then he joined the lab as a graduate student. His studies focus on modeling brain tumors and decompressive craniectomies. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Savvas Savva
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Savvas received a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Energy Field from the National Technical University of Athens, in 2013. Furthermore, from the same University, he received a Msc in Computational Mechanics (Fluids direction), in 2016. His research interests include computational methods and techniques, grid generation, optimization methods and Computational Bioengineering |
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Ioanna Katsamba
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Ioanna, graduated from the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering department of the University of Cyprus in June 2017 and then she joined the laboratory as a graduate student. Her main interests are simulations and modelling of tumors. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Pavlos Evangelidis
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Pavlos Evangelidis received a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering of the University of Cyprus in 2012. In 2016 he joined the Department's MSc program in Biomedical Engineering. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Filippos Kakoutsis |
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Filippos received a Diploma in Applied Mathematics and Physical Sciences from National Technical University of Athens in 2013. The same year he joined Interuniversity Postgraduate Programme on Biomedical Engineering at University of Patras and National Technical University of Athens, Greece. In 2017 he joined the PhD program at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing of the University of Cyprus. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| Odysseas Kokkinos, PhD | ||
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Odysseas joined the Cancer Biophysics Laboratory in June 2019 as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow. His research is focused in machine learning, stochastic mechanics and robust design. He obtained his diploma (MEng equivalent) in civil/structural engineering (2001-2006) from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a MSc in Quantitative Finance (2007-2008) from the ICMA Centre/University of Reading and completed his PhD in Computational Mechanics (2010-2015) in the NTUA. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher (2016-2019) in the Institute of Structural Analysis and Seismic Research at the NTUA developing numerical simulation and optimization techniques for advanced nanocomposite materials design. email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
