Assoc. Prof. Spyros Gkelis | Assoc. Prof. Spyros Gkelis from the Dept of Botany, School of Biology AUTh, teaches at both undergraduate and graduate courses on biodiversity, phycology, bioinformatics, and aquaculture. His interests focus on biodiversity informatics and particularly on the understanding of photosynthetic microorganisms’ diversity, ecotoxicology, population structure, local adaptation, and evolution using classical methods and metagenomics approaches. e-mail: sgkelis@bio.auth.gr

Prof. Athanasios Kallimanis | Prof. Athanasios Kallimanis from the Dept of Ecology, School of Biology AUTh, teaches at both undergraduate and graduate courses on ecology, population dynamics, and biostatistics. His research focuses on issues of landscape ecology, and more specifically in analyzing the spatial pattern of biodiversity (both taxonomic and functional) under different temporal and spatial scales with an emphasis in protected areas (e.g., Natura 2000 network). To this end, he builds and analyzes ecological models. e-mail: kalliman@bio.auth.gr

Assoc. Prof. Ilias Kappas | Assoc. Prof. Ilias Kappas from the Dept of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology AUTh, teaches at both undergraduate and graduate courses on bioinformatics, genetics, phylogenetics, biostatistics, and philosophy of biology. His interests include evolutionary bioinformatics, comparative genomics, database construction, molecular phylogenetics, patterns of diversification and macroevolution with a focus on extremophile organisms. Since 2017, he is the chair of Hellenic Bioinformatics. He is currently Deputy Director of the MSc Programme. e-mail: ikappas@bio.auth.gr

Prof. Dimitris L. Kontoyiannis | Prof. Dimitris L. Kontoyiannis holds a BSc in biochemistry from the Imperial College, University of London, UK and a joint PhD degree from the Hellenic Pasteur Institute (HPI) and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in cellular and molecular biology. He performed postdoctoral work, initially at HPI and subsequently at BSRC “Alexander Fleming” in Athens in immunopathological gene expression and signalling. Subsequently, he was elected as an independent researcher at BSRC “Alexander Fleming” where he remained for 17 years as Director of Research. During that time, he pioneered transgenic technologies, phenomics, and ribonomics. In 2018, he moved to the School of Biology, AUTh for a professorship in cell biology. His research focuses on the functions of regulatory RNA-binding proteins in immunopathology, degeneration, and cancer. e-mail: dkontoyiannis@bio.auth.gr

Assist. Prof. Theodora Koromila | Dr. Theodora Koromila is an Assistant Professor of Genetics in the Department of Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), with research interests focusing on Human Genetics, Genomics, and deciphering the mechanisms of cellular differentiation through quantitative real-time imaging. Additionally, she is an honorarium Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology at UTA, TX, USA. Theodora earned her Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the Department of Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and conducted her postdoctoral training at the renowned California Institute of Technology (Caltech), specializing in genetic regulation during embryonic development. During her postdoctoral research, she developed advanced methodologies, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and the “MS2-MCP” RNA imaging system in real-time for studying transcriptional regulation in Drosophila embryos. Her work has been honored with numerous national and international awards and she has participated in European and American research programs investigating chromatin accessibility and spatiotemporal protein regulation in real-time. e-mail: tkoromila@bio.auth.gr

Prof. Christos A. Ouzounis | Prof. Christos A. Ouzounis from the Department of Communication Networks & Information Analysis, School of Informatics AUTh, teaches computational & digital biology, computational genomics, and philosophy & ethics of artificial intelligence. His research interests include genome structure, function & evolution, theory & applications of sequence comparison, data & knowledge representation for genomics, unsupervised machine learning in very large datasets, biologically-inspired hardware & software engineering, synthetic biology, and exobiology. He is associate editor for the journals PLOS Computational Biology (since 2007) and BioSystems and Honorary Editor for the journal Bioinformatics. He is a founding officer of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) and Hellenic Bioinformatics. e-mail: cao@csd.auth.gr

Assist. Prof. Spiros Papakostas | After >12 years of working abroad (Univ. of Turku & Helsinki, Finland; NIOO-KNAW, Netherlands) as post-doc, principal investigator, and lecturer, Spiros Papakostas got recently appointed as an Assistant Professor of Microbial and Molecular Ecology at the School of Science and Technology of the International Hellenic University. His research and teaching curriculum includes the application of next-generation sequencing (genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics) and proteomic technologies to understand the molecular basis of adaptation and the eco-evolutionary dynamics of organisms to their environment. Spiros Papakostas will be involved in the teaching of Foundational Knowledge in bioinformatics, Next Generation DNA sequencing, Proteomics and Functional Genomics, Evolutionary Genomics, Metagenomics, Population Genomics, and Gene Ontologies. e-mail: spapakostas@ihu.edu.gr

Assist. Prof. Konstantinos Sagonas | Assist. Prof. Konstantinos Sagonas is a faculty member of the Department of Zoology, School of Biology AUTh. After a PhD in evolutionary biology at NKUA in Greece, and amazing years as a postdoc at Lund University in Sweden, QMUL in UK and Nord University in Norway, he joined the School of Biology at AUTh. His main research areas include evolutionary ecology and population genetics. He is particularly interested in local adaptation, ecological speciation, adaptive radiation, host-parasite interactions, epigenetics and eco-evolutionary dynamics. e-mail: ksagonas@bio.auth.gr

Prof. Stefanos Sgardelis | Prof. Stefanos Sgardelis from the Dept of Ecology, School of Biology AUTh, teaches at both undergraduate and graduate courses on general ecology, population dynamics, mathematical models, complex systems and networks, and biostatistics. His research extends from soil ecology to population dynamics, structure and dynamics of Mediterranean ecosystems and spatial models of biodiversity. e-mail: sgardeli@bio.auth.gr

Assoc. Prof. Christos Tjortjis | Assoc. Prof. Christos Tjortjis is Chair of the Department and Dean of the School of Science and Technology, University Center of International Programmes of Studies of the International Hellenic University (IHU). He is Director for the MSc in Data Science, ICT Systems, Mobile and Web Computing: Internet of Things Applications, Cybersecurity and the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree in Smart Cities and Communities. He started his academic career as a Lecturer at UMIST, Dept. of Computation, got tenure at the University of Manchester, Schools of Informatics and Computer Science. He then served as adjunct Assoc. and Assist. Prof. at the University of Ioannina, Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering and University of W. Macedonia, Dept. of Engineering Informatics and Telecommunications. He holds a Deng in Computer Engineering and Informatics from the University of Patras, and a BSc in Law from the Democritus University of Thrace, an MPhil in Computation from UMIST and a PhD in Informatics from the University of Manchester, UK. e-mail: c.tjortjis@ihu.edu.gr

Prof. Alexandros Triantafyllidis | Biologist with PhD studies on “Population genetics of animal organisms”. Academic staff of School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece since 2003. He has followed sabbatical studies on bioinformatics in Katholieke Universitet Leuven (2010) and University of Oxford (2019). He has collaborated with Greek and European researchers in National and EU projects on food traceability and biodiversity conservation of Greek animal species using genetic and genomic tools. He has been a member of School of Biology and Aristotle University Committees on Programmes of Studies, Evaluation, Accreditation, Erasmus, ECTS and international mobility and affairs. e-mail: atriant@bio.auth.gr

External Instructors

Dr. Maria Georgiadou | Dr. Maria Georgiadou is a newly-elected faculty member of the Biomedical Research Institute (BRI), Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), Ioannina, Greece. She completed her doctoral thesis in 2012 in cancer cell signalling at the Faculty of Medicine at VIB, KULeuven, Belgium and worked for 5 years as a post-doc and a principal investigator at Turku Biocenter Finland and later for 5 years as senior scientist and Head of the Cancer Cell Signalling Unit at Orion Pharma Corporation. Her published track record includes Cell, J. Cell Science, Nature Communications and other top journals. A major goal of her current team at BRI is to identify and validate novel therapeutic targets to prevent resistance to anti-cancer agents. e-mail: mariageorgi@bri.forth.gr

Dr. Panagiota Kafasla | Dr. Panagiota Kafasla received her BSc in chemistry and her PhD in molecular biology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She then pursued a postdoctoral career, initially at the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, subsequently at the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” and finally at the University of Cambridge. She joined BSRC “Alexander Fleming” in 2012 and was elected as an Independent Group Leader/Associate of Research in 2017. Her research focuses on nuclear RNA processing events and particularly splicing. The last few years she is employing biological and omics approaches to decipher signal-to-spliceosome relationships involved in cancer development. e-mail: Kafasla@fleming.gr

Dr. Panayiota Kotsakiozi | Dr. Panayiota Kotsakiozi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research. After a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in Greece, she worked as a postdoc at Yale University in USA, as well as at NKUA and University of Crete. Her research interests revolve around the phylogeography, molecular systematics and population genomics of several animal species. Currently, she is the PI of a project in the field of conservation biology, concerning the extinction risk of species and the anthropogenic pressures on species distribution ranges. e-mail: pkotsakiozi@gmail.com

Dr. Panagiotis Moulos | Dr. Panagiotis Moulos holds a degree in applied mathematics and physics from NTUA, an MSc in bioinformatics from ULB, Brussels and a PhD in bioinformatics from the School of Chemical Engineering, NTUA. Currently, he is an elected Group Leader at BSRC “Alexander Fleming”. He has over 15 years of research experience in (bio)statistics, bioinformatics, and scientific software development. His current research interests include the development of novel computational and statistical analysis methods, tools, and pipelines for the analysis of high-throughput omics data and algorithmic and sustainable software development for the study of complex biological mechanisms. e-mail: moulos@fleming.gr

Dr. Eleftherios Panteris | Dr. Eleftherios Panteris is a molecular biologist (2001, University of Sussex UK) with a PhD in Computer Science and Bioinformatics (2008, Scholarship, Brunel University UK) and an MPhil in Microarray Technology (2004, Scholarship, University of Sussex UK). He is currently a post-doctoral researcher in Metabolomics (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) in the Laboratory of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology and the Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry. He has an extensive research background and technical expertise in the fields of biomedical data analysis, bioinformatics, biostatistics, molecular genetics, biochemistry and medicine. He has participated in research, writing and implementation of deliverables in various European programs. He is currently a member on the Board of Hellenic Bioinformatics (2020-2023; Deputy Secretary 2017-2019). He is very active in biomedical research with more than 30 peer reviewed publications. e-mail: panteris@chem.auth.gr

Dr. Georgios A. Pavlopoulos | Dr. Georgios A. Pavlopoulos holds a degree in computer science from the University of Athens, an MRes degree in bioinformatics from the University of Leeds, a PhD in bioinformatics from the EMBL in Heidelberg, and a joint MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). Subsequently, he received postdoctoral training in bioinformatics, initially at the Catholic University of Leuven, then at the University of Crete, and finally at the DOE Joint Genome Institute of Lawrence Berkeley National Labs in California. Currently, he is the Director of Bioinformatics at the Institute of Fundamental Biological Research (IFBR) of the BSRC “Alexander Fleming”. He has participated in national and international bioinformatics societies and organized international bioinformatics conferences. e-mail: pavlopoulos@fleming.gr

Dr. Konstantinos Rouskas | Dr. Konstantinos Rouskas holds a BSc in biology, an MSc in Applied Genetics and Biotechnology, and a PhD in human genetics from the School of Biology, AUTh. Subsequently, he performed postdoctoral work at INSERM UMR859 in Lille (2012-2013) and at BSRC “Alexander Fleming” working mainly on functional genomics. Since 2019, he is a senior postdoctoral researcher at CERTH/INAB in Thessaloniki, coordinating the Nutrition and Health Sector. He has participated in national and European projects in functional genomics. His main research focuses on genomics of complex traits and diseases, systems biology, and NGS data integration in the fields of medicine and nutrition. e-mail: rouskas@certh.gr

Dr. Martina Samiotaki | Dr. Martina Samiotaki received her BSc in biology and her PhD in human medical genetics from the University of Uppsala. Subsequently, she performed postdoctoral work at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute and the Anticancer Institute of the “Aghios Savvas” hospital. The last two decades, she works at BSRC “Alexander Fleming” as the Director of Operations of its proteomic facility. Dr. Samiotaki has participated in almost 100 publications using various proteomics applications such as label-free differential proteomics, characterization of post-translational modifications, microbial (meta)-proteomics, proteogenomics, and clinical proteomics. Currently, she is developing novel platforms for single-cell proteomics. e-mail: samiotaki@fleming.gr

Dr. Loukas Theodosiou | Dr. Loukas Theodosiou is a bioinformatician with passion for software development, package creation, and the application of machine learning models. His academic journey includes obtaining a master’s degree in Evolutionary Biology and bioinformatics from LMU Munich and CEFE in Montpellier, followed by a Ph.D. in Mathematical Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön. After completing his Ph.D., dr. Theodosiou embarked on a diverse career path, starting as a post-doc at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, then progressing to a senior bioinformatician role at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, and later transitioning into a data scientist position at TraitSeq in Norwich. He is currently working as a Research Scientist at the Bioinformatics Department of Evotec (drug-discovery company) and as a guest scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.
e-mail: theodosiou@evolbio.mpg.de

Dr. Maria Tsagiopoulou | Dr. Maria Tsagiopoulou is a postdoctoral researcher in the team of Dr. Ivo Gut at CNAG/CRG in Barcelona, Spain. After her BSc in molecular biology and genetics in 2013, she received her PhD from the Biology department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the INAB/CERTH, Greece in 2019. Her research focuses on transcriptomics and epigenetics landscape in immune cells and hematological malignancies. She is particularly interested in CLL and single-cell omics technologies. e-mail: mariatsayo@gmail.com