our Team
Dimitris Thanos
DIRECTOR
Dr. Dimitris Thanos was an Associate Professor with Tenure at College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University before moving back to Greece as the first Director of Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Alexander Fleming”, Greece. Currently he is the Director of the Center of Basic Research, Chairman of the Scientific Board and Vice President at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Greece. He is an ordinary member of the Academy of Athens since 2016.
Periklis Makrythanasis, MD, PhD
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST
Dr Periklis Makrythanasis obtained his Medical Diploma from the Medical School of the University of Athens and his PhD on genetics from the Choremeio Genetics Laboratory of the same University. He then moved to Geneva where he obtained the specialty of Medical Genetics and worked as Junior Consultant in the Genetic Service of the University Hospitals of Geneva and Senior Analyst of diagnostic exome sequencing. He also worked for many years as senior post doc in the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development of the University of Geneva on many aspects of genetic research focusing on analysis of Next Generation Sequencing results.
Katerina Zoi, PhD
DEPUTY SUPERVISING SCIENTIST
Dr. Zoi studied Biology at the University of Athens and obtained her PhD in molecular genetics in Leukemia from the School of Medicine of the same University. She moved to BRFAA Haematology Research Laboratory in 2003. She has been working on the development of molecular assays used in diagnosis and in monitoring haematologic patients’ response to treatment, which lead in the establishment of Molecular Diagnostics Service on Haematologic Malignancies at BRFAA. Her research is related to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of myeloid neoplasias. The focus recently has been shifted on whole exome, whole genome and RNA sequencing to identify novel mutations implicated not only in disease pathogenesis but contribute in disease evolution as well. She has participated in many collaborating activities and her work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals.
Ioannis Vatsellas, PhD
WET LAB SCIENTIFIC MANAGER
Dr Giannis Vatsellas studied biology at the University of Crete, where he worked on the genetics of the malaria mosquito. He carried out his PhD research in BRFAA, studying mechanisms by which human genes respond to environmental stimuli and during development and cellular differentiation. His Post-doctoral research focused on the genetic analysis of cardiomyopathies with Next Generation Sequencing gene panels. Since 2017 he is the wet-lab scientific manager of the Greek Genome Center.
Maria Papathanasiou, MSc, PhD
QUALITY MANAGER – LABORATORY SCIENTIST
Dr Maria Papathanasiou studied Biochemistry and Biotehnology at the University of Thessaly. She holds a Master’s degree in Molecular Medicine of the Medical School of UoA and she obtained her PhD from Medical School of UoA. She performed her MSc and PhD thesis at BRFAA, in the field of NGS and Stem Cell Biology and she has previous experience in Clinical Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics.
Giorgos Panagopoulos, MSc
LABORATORY SCIENTIST
Mr Giorgos Panagopoulos graduated by the Department of Biology of University of Athens. He received his MSc in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from University of Crete. He is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Research Foundation and his research focus is the human antiviral response. In GGC he specializes is in Quality Control, Library Preparation and Sequencing of DNA and RNA samples.
Andreas Giannopoulos, MSc, PhD
LABORATORY SCIENTIST
Dr. Andreas Giannopoulos studied Biology at the University of Patras, he holds an MSc Degree in Biological Sciences from the same University and obtained his PhD from Medical School of UoA. His research focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of myeloproliferative neoplasms. Andreas has been working at the Haematology Research Laboratory of BRFAA since 2012 as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist, where he applies already established molecular biology assays and contributes to the development of novel ones, including NGS approaches, for diagnosis, risk stratification and treatment evaluation of patients with haematological malignancies.