People in the BEST group
Group Leader
Dr. Róisín M. Owens received her BA in Natural Sciences (Mod. Biochemistry) at Trinity College Dublin, and her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Southampton University. She carried out two postdoc fellowships at Cornell University, on host-pathogen interactions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the dept. of Microbiology and Immunology with Prof. David Russell, and on rhinovirus therapeutics in the dept. of Biomedical Engineering with Prof. Moonsoo Jin. From 2009-2017 she was a group leader in the dept. of bioelectronics at Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne, on the microelectronics campus in Provence. Her current research centers on application of organic electronic materials for monitoring biological systems in vitro, with a specific interest in studying the gut-brain-microbiome axis. She has received several awards including the European Research Council starting (2011), proof of concept grant (2014) and consolidator (2016) grants, a Marie Curie fellowship, and an EMBO fellowship. In 2014, she became principle editor for biomaterials for MRS communications (Cambridge University Press), and she serves on the advisory board of Advanced BioSystems and Journal of Applied Polymer Science (Wiley). She is author of 60+ publications.
Postdocs
Dr. Charalampos Pitsalidis is a research associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, in the BioElectronic Systems and Technologies group. With a PhD degree in organic electronics, during his postdoctoral research he focused on bridging novel organic electronic devices with biological systems toward next generation in vitro cell culture platforms. In Cambridge, his research involves the development of a 3D gut-on-a-chip device to study the microbiome-gut-brain-axis. Office: room 1.07; E-mail: cp645@cam.ac.uk
Dr. Anna-Maria Pappa is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, in the BioElectronic Systems and Technologies group. She holds a PhD degree in bioelectronics with a focus on biosensing. Her current research interests include the development of in vitro electronic platforms for drug testing, focusing on antibiotics. You can find her in her office (room 1.07) or somewhere in the labs making her microscopic devices! (E-mail: amp206@cam.ac.uk)
Dr. Donata Iandolo is a Marie-Sklodowska Curie postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. She received her master’s degree in Industrial Biotechnologies at the University of Naples “Federico II” (Italy) and a PhD thesis in Industrial Biotechnologies. She then joined the Soft Matter Nanotechnology Group at the National Nanotechnology Laboratory (CNR-NANO) (Lecce, Italy) and subsequently worked with Prof. Magnus Berggren at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics. Her research focus is mainly on the integration of electroactive biomimetic 3D scaffolds with human stem cells to develop implantable devices for complete bone defects filling. Office: room 1.07; E-mail: di251@cam.ac.uk
Dr. Janire Saez is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, in the BioElectronic Systems and Technologies group. She has a Chemistry degree and she holds a PhD in the integration of smart materials into microfluidic devices for fluidic control and sensing. Her current research interests include the development of “organ-on-a-chip” platforms, focusing in the gut-brain axis. Office: room 1.07; E-mail: js2409@cam.ac.uk
Postgraduate students
Magali Ferro is a 3rd year PhD student at the department of Bioelectronics at the Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne. Her project focuses on the development of a 3D model of the blood brain barrier with integrated fluidics and electronics. Magali is currently on secondment at Prof. Sarah Heilshorn's laboratory in Stanford, but will be visiting Cambridge from May-June. Email: Magali.Ferro@emse.fr
Aimie Pavia is a 1st year PhD student at the department of Bioelectronics at the Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne co-funded by Panaxium. Aimie is working on development of novel methods for fabrication of organic bioelectronic devices for interfacing with biological tissues in vitro and in vivo. Email: aimie.pavia@emse.fr
Chrysanthi (Anthie) Moysidou is a 1st year PhD student, in the Bioelectronic Systems Technologies group and her research will focus on developing in vitro models of the gut and brain with integrated monitoring, and studying the way these organs communicate. Office: room 1.07; Email: cmm202@cam.ac.uk
Technical support
Aimee Withers is a research laboratory technician. For the past 2 years she has worked as a media technician at CRUK Cambridge Institute. She has joined the BEST group to support cell culture activities. Office: room 1.07; Email: amw209@cam.ac.uk