Summary
Konstantinos is a postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) at the Department of Bioengineering working with Dr Periklis (Laki) Pantazis. Within the Laboratory of Advanced Optical Precision Imaging, he continues his work on developing an advanced optical precision imaging toolkit. This toolkit encompasses a novel biosensor for the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1, named GenEPi, new improved green-to-red photoconvertible fluorescent proteins for primed conversion, a cutting-edge volumetric imaging microscope (λ-OPM) with Raman capabilities in collaboration with Dr Rowlands' lab, and the first biodegradable Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) nanoprobes, called bioharmonophores, that could transform biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic imaging and photodynamic therapy.
Konstantinos was recently honoured with the 2023 Christine Beattie Award from the International Zebrafish Society (IZFS) which acknowledges early-career zebrafish scientists who "demonstrate excellence in zebrafish research and exhibit promise as future leaders in the field".
Konstantinos is a co-founding member and chairperson of the Young Researcher Committee (YoRC) of the European Zebrafish Society (EZS), elected member of the EZS Board and part of the Organising Committee of the London Zebrafish Club Special Interest Group (SIG) funded by the Genetics Society.
Konstantinos studied Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Democritus University of Thrace in Greece and obtained a Master's degree in Translational Research in Biomedicine. Before joining Imperial College, he was a Research Assistant at the Laboratory of Nano Bio Imaging at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) at ETH Zurich in Basel, working on fluorescent protein engineering.