Team:Thessaly/Attributions
ATTRIBUTIONS.
Our project would have not been carried out without the support and insight of exceptional people, inside and outside our University. So, we find it important to acknowledge all of those who became part of our journey, including of course our advisors, instructors and PI’s.
Team
Nick Ntelkis, Biochemistry & Biotechnology student and member of the Wet Lab. He took part in the project development process and fully organized and designed all of our experiments. He designed RPA primers and ran the functional experiments, he cloned several constructs, and prepared competent cells for the lab. He also ran the in vitro experiments for the proof of concept and the in vivo contribution experiments. Concerning drylab, he designed the mathematical model of the in vitro protein synthesis reactions and executed the minimum time prediction. Furthermore, he came in touch with different companies and potential sponsors, as a member of our fundraising team.
Xenia-Artemis Doulka, Mechanical Engineering student and member of our Human Practices team. She designed our mathematical model regarding RPA, helped with our Human Practices activities and developed the heater included in our product design. She also contributed to our entrepreneurship strategy.
Nikoleta Efthymiopoulou, Biochemistry & Biotechnology student and member of the Wet Lab. She took part in the project development process and ran functional experiments, regarding cloning, in vitro transcription/translation, as well as our improve part. She also helped with Human Practices activities and product development.
Maria Gerontopoulou, Architecture student, graphic designer of our team. She built the visual identity of our project, designed the graphics for our Human Practices’ events, as well as our 3D prototype. She also came in touch with different companies and potential sponsors, as a member of our fundraising team, and contributed to our entrepreneurship strategy.
Vasiliki Kavvatha, Biochemist & Biotechnologist and project leader of our team. She organized and coordinated all of the team’s work throughout the whole project. She was responsible for the project development process, the finance activities, the Human Practices development and the Wet Lab experiments. She finally designed our parts for the contribution experiments and was responsible for the entrepreneurship strategy.
Afroditi Katsaouni, Biochemistry & Biotechnology student and head of the Wet Lab. She organized the project development process, was responsible for our Wet Lab’s timeline, designed our experiments and ran functional experiments regarding RPA, cloning and in vitro transcription/translation for the proof of concept. She also designed our RPA primers and took part in our in vivo contribution experiments. Furthermore, she designed and ran the experiments regarding our universal tool (HBV). She also came in touch with different companies and potential sponsors, as a member of our finance team.
Thodoris Kontogiannis, Biochemistry & Biotechnology student and member of the Wet Lab. He took part in the project development process. He also designed our toehold switches, ran functional experiments regarding eGFP and performed a couple of clonings. He tested the function of our proof of concept’s toehold switch and ran a part of our improve part experiments. Finally, he helped with our Human Practices activities, and took part in our product development and entrepreneurship strategy.
Eleftheria Moustaka, Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics student and member of our Human Practices team. She constructed our wiki and official web site and she also helped with our Human Practices activities.
Athina Mylona, Biochemist & Biotechnologist, head of our Human Practices team. She was responsible for organizing our Integrated Human Practices and Public Engagement & Education activities. She came in touch with the stakeholders that helped us build on Integrated Human Practices and edited our wiki and social media context.
Leandros Tsiotos, Biochemist & Biotechnologist and project leader of our team. He organized and coordinated all of the team’s work throughout the whole project. He was responsible for the project development process, the finance activities, the Human Practices development and the Wet Lab experiments. He finally designed our parts for the contribution experiments and was responsible for our product development and social media.
Supervisors
Konstantinos Mathiopoulos, Primary iGEM PI, Professor, Molecular Biology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. He provided us with lab space as well as guidance and general support throughout the development of our project. As a research coordinator of the Omic-Engine infrastructure, he also provided financial support.
Kalliope Papadopoulou, Secondary iGEM PI, Associate Professor, Plant Biotechnology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. She gave us lab space as well as guidance and general support throughout the development of our project. As a research coordinator of the Omic-Engine infrastructure, she helped us with our lab supplies and orders. She also contributed to our Human Practices activities.
Konstantinos Gourgoulianis, Secondary PI, Professor, Pulmonology at the Department of Internal Medicine and head of the Pulmonology Clinic of the University of Thessaly. He offered us access to specialized knowledge about Tuberculosis disease and general support throughout the development of our project. He also helped us with our contacts for our Public Engagement & Education events.
Instructors
Constantine Garagkounis, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology and Environment at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. He offered his help during our troubleshooting sessions concerning wet lab progress and provided us with day-to-day lab guidance. Finally, he contributed greatly to our wiki proofreading.
Konstantina Tsoumani, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. She offered her help during our troubleshooting sessions concerning wet lab progress.
Stamatis Damalas, PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology of the Wageningen University. He helped us during our project development and multiple troubleshooting sessions and provided us with day-to-day lab guidance.
Christos Batianis, PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology of the Wageningen University. He helped us during our project development and multiple troubleshooting sessions, and provided us with day-to-day lab guidance.
Advisors
Nikos Sideris, Biochemist & Biotechnologist, MSc student at the University of Sussex. He offered his advice to our wet lab, based on his laboratory experience.
Giannis Ntekas, Chemical Engineering student at the Technical University of Athens and leader of the iGEM Athens 2018 team. He mentored our Dry Lab member and helped with the design of our mathematical models. He also contributed to the design of our toehold switch.
Finance
Anastasia Voulgara, Secretary of the Omic-Engine Infrastructure. She provided financial guidance regarding the policies of the University of Thessaly.
Antonia Spanomitrou, Lab technician at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genomics at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. She helped us with the orders of our lab supplies.
Matina Rentouli, MSc student of Biomedicine at the Karolinska University, and member of the iGEM Stockholm 2018 team. She supported our team during the development of our financial strategy and provided general support during our team’s recruitment.
Julie Kyriazi, HR manager and Environmental Science Educator at SciCo. She gave us advice on the development of our financial strategy and helped us finalize our sponsorship packages.
Odysseas Lamtzidis, Electrical and Computer Engineering student at the University of Patras. He mentored our finance team regarding the promotion of our crowdfunding campaign.
Project Support & Advice
Antonios Giakountis, Assistant Professor, Molecular Biology -Genomics at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. He provided us with scientific advice on our project development and especially on our RPA primer and toehold switch designs. He also helped us during multiple troubleshooting sessions.
Nikolaos Balatsos, Assistant Professor, Biochemistry at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. He gave us useful advice on our test’s control.
Anna-Maria Psarra, Assistant Professor, Biochemistry at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. She provided us with advice and support for our readout strategy, by proposing different enzymatic assays to use.
Dimitrios Kouretas, Professor, Animal Physiology - Toxicology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. He provided us with advice and support for our readout strategy, by discussing the possibility of TrX reductase use. He also offered mentorship to our finance team.
Tilemachos Dimitriou, Post Doctoral Researcher at the Laboratory of Molecular Virology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. He offered us scientific advice on our project development and especially on the technical details of the isothermal amplification techniques, LAMP and RPA. He also explained all the safety aspects of the laboratory infrastructure.
Maria Daskou, PhD Candidate at the Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. She offered us advice on our project development and especially on the technical details of the isothermal amplification techniques, LAMP and RPA.
Alexandros Belavilas, PhD Candidate at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genomics at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly, provided support during our product design by offering scientific advice concerning the paper based technology. He also helped us contacting various people during our Human Practices activities.
Kostantinos Vavitsas, Senior Research Associate at the University of Athens, Omic-Engine’s and EUSynBioS’s communicator editor. He gave us advice on our test’s control. He also supported us during our first steps as a team and provided us with advice about the communication of our project.
Elena Gkatzou and Archontoula Giannakopoulou, PhD Candidates at the Laboratory of Biotechnology at the Department of Biological Applications and Technologies of the University of Ioannina, provided scientific advice regarding the development of a microfluidic device.
George Charalampous, Assistant Professor Thermofluid Processes with Energy Applications at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly. He helped our Dry Lab member to design our product’s heater giving information regarding thermofluid processes.
Lab Support
Elena Dadami, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology and Environment at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. She provided day-to-day guidance during our wet lab training.
Athanasios Dalakouras, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology and Environment at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. He provided day-to-day guidance during our wet lab training.
Kyriakis Efthymios, PhD student at the Laboratory of Structural and Functional Biochemistry, at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. He provided us with the casaminoacids needed to make the M9 medium.
George Skretas, Research Associate Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Enzyme & Synthetic Biotechnology Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry & Biotechnology at the National Hellenic Research Foundation and research coordinator of the Omic-Engine infrastructure. He offered us nitrocefin substrate in order to complete our in vivo & in vitro experiments.
Andreas Tsipourlianos, PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. He provided us with plates for our in vivo experiments conducted with a plate reader.
Vasiliki Skamnaki, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry – Metabolism at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly. She provided our team with the pETM-11 vector for our improvement experiments.
Human Practices
Education & Public Engagement
Eirini Gerogianni, attending doctor at the Pulmonology Clinic, University of Thessaly. She gave a speech about the history of Tuberculosis at our SynArt event “When Art Meets Tuberculosis”.
Thodoris Repanas, undergraduate medical student, University of Thessaly. He gave a saxophone performance at our SynArt event “When Art Meets Tuberculosis”.
Evi Spanou, General Director of Thessalic Theatre. She gave us permission to use the theatre for hosting our SynArt event “When Art Meets Tuberculosis”.
Polly Vlachou & Dimitris Vernikos, Directors of the Documentary "A Breath of Life", a documentary by the Respiratory Medicine Department of the University of Thessaly”. They provided us with the film and so enabled its screening during our SynArt event “When Art Meets Tuberculosis”.
Thodoris Karakoulakis, Area Manager Central Greece, Danish Refugee Council. He gave a speech at our SynArt event “The Refugee Crisis Through Art” concerning the role of DRC Greece during the refugee crisis, and the current situation in the temporary accommodation centre “Koutsoxero” located at Thessaly.
Despina Voulgaridou, Associate Protection Expert at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Thessaloniki, Greece. She gave a speech at our SynArt event “The Refugee Crisis Through Art” about the role of UNHCR Greece during refugee crisis as well as statistics concerning influxes, accommodation and more.
Dimitris Kyriakopoulos, Journalist Photographer. He provided us with his own photographs taken from refugee camps for our exhibition at our SynArt event “The Refugee Crisis Through Art”.
Klelia Kouimtzidou, Doctor with acting and directing experience. She directed the theatrical performance “My nationality is the color of the wind”, given by the student theatrical team from the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry & Biotechnology at our SynArt event “The Refugee Crisis Through Art”.
Vaggelis Pappas, Elena Pappa, Sοtiria Skiani, Katerina Dellaki, Machi Karali, Thanos Charizanis, Myrto Charouli, members of the student theatrical team from the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry & Biotechnology, that performed the theatrical play “My nationality is the color of the wind” at our SynArt event “The Refugee Crisis Through Art”.
Panagiotis Sapkas, Deputy Mayor of Culture and Science, Larissa. He gave us permission to use the Mill of Pappas to host our SynArt event “The Refugee Crisis Through Art”.
The team that created the dance performance "Land of All": Metaxatou Marina, Bandak Leila,Chantzoglidis Giorgos, Fallon Panagiota, Giannakou Lydia, Ioannidou Sofia, Karali Machi, Kellari Loukia, Liasidi Natalia, Nechalioti Maria, Ntellaki Katerina, Papageorgiou Konstantina, Skiani Sissy, Stathopoulou Margarita, Zambas Panayiotis, Dimitris Rallis,
Integrated Human Practices
Simona Karampela, Panagiotis Ioannidis and Dimitrios Papavetzis, Doctors at the Sotiria Thoracic Diseases Hospital of Athens. Regarding our test’s application, they advised us that our test would be the most useful as a screening tool if detecting active tuberculosis.
Ioannis Kalousis, Pulmonologist and Tuberculosis specialist in Larissa, Greece. He provided us with substantial information regarding Tuberculosis, and suggested the use of urine as the sample for our test.
Spyros Karagiannis, Pulmonologist at the ICU General Hospital of Larissa. He provided substantial information regarding Tuberculosis and the commonly used TB diagnostic tests. He also gave us advice on the suitable sample and biomarker for our test.
Miltiadis Markatos, Pulmonologist and Tuberculosis specialist in Athens, Greece. He provided us with advice on the suitable sample and biomarker for our test, as well as with important information regarding the epidemiological studies of Tuberculosis in Greece.
Emmanuela Daka, Social Worker at the SGBV and child protection services focal point at the Reception and Identification Center (RIC) of "Moria", Greece. She gave us feedback on arrivals and current policies there.
Non-Governmental Organizations
Eirini Gerogli, Medical Anthropologist and Project Coordinator at International Organization of Migration (IOM). She supported us during the development of our Healthcare Model by giving us insight on IOM’s policies and programs for the refugee crisis in Greece. She also provided us with useful references.
Eleni Mpletsa, Associate Protection Expert at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She informed us about UNHCR’s mandate and brought us in touch with the National Public Health Organization (NPHO).
Papakonstantinou Sotiris, Doctor with the Doctors of the World, Greece. He provided us with useful information and references concerning current policies at hotspots in Greece, which we used to form our Healthcare Model.
Evgenia Thanou, General Director of Doctors of the World, Greece. She provided us with useful information and references concerning current policies at hotspots in Greece which, we used to form our Healthcare model.
Christina Zarogianni, Legal Rapporteur at European Asylum Support Office (EASO). She gave us information about the legal aspects of the asylum procedures, as well as about the situation at refugee reception centers in Greek islands.
Apostolos Veizis, Doctor of Doctors Without Borders, Greece. He was the first to encourage the formation of a Healthcare Model. He gave us insight into the current situation at the Refugee Camps in Greece, and also pointed out the gaps and needs concerning healthcare.
Evangelia Biti, Education Team Leader at the Danish Refugee Council, Greece. She gave us insight on the current situation at the temporary accommodation centre “Koutsoxero” concerning mainly education and children.
Iraklis Telidis, Senior Accommodation Supervisor and SMS Coordinator at INTERSOS. He supported us in our effort to simulate our kit in field. He provided us with the necessary permission for our visit to the Accommodation Centre “Agia Eleni” located at Ioannina, Greece.
Nikola Skoula, Hygiene Specialist at INTERSOS - Hellas. She helped us during our visit to the accommodation facility "Agia Eleni" and gave us feedback on our project design.
Acknowledgements
General support
Elena Pappa, iGEM Thessaly Ambassador, student at the Dept. of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. She helped revise and edit our website, social media posts and wiki content. She also participated in our brainstorming sessions concerning both our project and Human Practices work. Finally, she contributed greatly to our wiki proofreading.
Olga Tsiouri, iGEM Thessaly Ambassador, graduated from the Dept. of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly. She helped our mechanical engineer with the modelling and shared her ideas with us during the brainstorming sessions.
Katerina Moutou, Dimitris Leonidas, Dimitris Karpouzas, Vasilis Kotsikoris, and Fragiskos Kolisis, Members of the Omic-Engine Infrastructure. They supported us financially and also offered us guidance during the development of our project.
Thea Chrysostomou, European Ambassador of iGEM. She mentored our team concerning recruitment, Human Practices, and project design. She also invited and gave us the opportunity to present our project at the first SynBio conference in Cyprus.
Boas Pucker, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Genetics and Genomics of plants of CeBiTec (Bielefeld University), and iGEM 2019 mentor. He provided us with support and advice during our lab experiments and overall project, in terms of the After iGEM Mentorship Program. Finally, he contributed greatly to our wiki proofreading.
Eva Diamantopoulou, Graphic Designer working at Printease. She designed our team’s logo.
Despina Kalousi, Student at the Department of Medicine, University of Thessaly. She provided support during the development of our financial strategy and helped us come in touch with some doctors for our Human Practices. She coordinated our talks at the 25th Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students (SCHMS) and guided our tour in Larissa city during the Greek Meet Up.
Maria Karali, Student at the Law School at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She helped us find and gain access to bibliography for our Integrated Human Practices.
Advice during Brainstorming sessions
The following mentions helped us decide on our project based on their experience in different scientific fields.
Dimitris Leonidas, Professor, Biochemistry at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly.
Dimitris Mosialos, Assistant Professor, Microbial Biotechnology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly.
Dimitris Karpouzas, Professor, Environmental Microbiology & Biotechnology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly.
Katerina Moutou, Associate Professor, Vertebrate Biology at the Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly.
Fragiskos Kolisis, Emeritus Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens.
Euaggelos Topakas, Assistant Professor, Biotechnology at the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
Vasilis Hatzimanikatis, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
Andreas Andreopoulos, Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
Alexandros Katsiampoulas, President of HSWMA (Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association).
Konstantinos Ιchaliotis, Associate Professor, Fertility – Soil Biology at the Department of Natural Resources and Agricultural Engineering of the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.
iGEM Alumni
As the first iGEM team of the University of Thessaly, we looked for mentorship and general support during our first steps from previous iGEM teams, given their experience and knowledge.
Eugene Balhysa, Thanasis Theocharis, Elisavet Sandaltzopoulou, Haris Komodromos, Asteris Arabatzis and Charis Giannitsis, iGEM Greece 2017. They provided guidance and mentoring for our team recruitment, wet lab experiments, wiki development and fundraising strategy.
Leda Katopodi, Maria Litsa, Nelly Kanata and Stelios Kotzastratis, members of the iGEM Athens 2018 team. They mentored us concerning our financial support, project development and wiki design.
Blanca Campaña López, iGEM Stockholm 2018 member. She supported us in developing our financial strategy.
Dimitris Michailidis, supervisor at iGEM Sheffield 2019 team. He offered us mentoring on Human Practices and project design.
Andreas Metskas, iGEM Stockholm 2018 member. He offered us mentoring on product design and entrepreneurship.
Sponsors
Financial sponsors: Omic-Engine Greek Synthetic Biology Infrastructure, State Scholarships Foundation, Research Committee of the University of Thessaly, Hellenic Petroleum, Elpen, Novartis Minetta, Panidis Medical Shop, IDT Technologies, TwistBioscience, SnapGene, Mathworks, Labfolder, Lab Supplies Scientific, New England Biolabs, EPSA, Mpalais, 3D Hub Volos, Xcopy, Digramma DS, Filomila, Glikostilas, Kaltsas bookshop
Crowdfunding supporters: Olymbia Balafas, Andreas & Kleopatra Bartoli, Takis Tsiotos, Dimitris Tsiotos, Enomena Frontistiria, Lampros Milonas, Anastasia Pepe, Giovanni Bartoli, Nikolaos Bertzouanis, Marina Trimponia, Olymbia & Andriana Sotiriou, Charalampos Anagnostopoulos, Ser Kyr, Tzortzina Koutsopodioti, Ourania Petri, D. Karelas, Rodanthi Athanasiadi, Peggy Sotiriou, Niki & Xristos Dimakopoulos,Angeliki Magni, Nikos Kontogiannis, Zoi, Eleni Melagraki, Dimitrios Michailidis, George Skliris, Thanos Papanikolopoulos, Maria Daldogianni, Anthony Koumpias, Georgios Peros, Eleni Papandreou, Panagiotis Stoikos, Theodore Mitsopoulos
We would also like to thank all the people who donated to our platform anonymously.
