About me
In 2008 I graduated with a Material Science degree from the University of Patras and soon after I completed my Ph.D. studies in biomechanics at the Bioengineering Research Group (University of Southampton). During my Ph.D. and the early years as a post-doc, I developed methods for the nanoscale and microscale characterization of biological tissues, and especially of individual collagen fibrils, by employing atomic force microscopy techniques.
Research
My current research focuses on the spatiotemporal dynamics of collagen fibril degradation by matrix metalloproteinases through the combination of super-resolution fluorescence and atomic force microscopy (the COSiMA project funded by WWTF), the nano- and microscale mechanics of biological tissues in health and disease, and developing tools and methods for the mechanical characterization of tissues, cells and cell clusters (spheroids and organoids).
Research Interests
- Structure-function relationships of biological tissues and sub-cellular components
- Spatiotemporal degradation kinetics of collagen fibrils
- Nano- and micromechanics of biological tissues and materials
- Method development for nanomechanical assessment
- Nano- and microscale structural-mechanical alterations in pathologies affecting extracellular matrix components
- Atomic force microscopy as a tool for mechanical assessment