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Areas of expertise
Biography
I studied cell and molecular biology at the University of Ottawa from 1988 to 1992, and later, obtained my PhD from Queen's University (Canada) in 2008 in psychiatric genetics and neuroscience, working in autism spectrum disorders. I worked in Cyprus for over 20 years in healthcare at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics and the biotechnology spin-off NIPD Genetics, where I was involved in the development and commercialisation of high-complexity genetic diagnostic services and IVD medical devices, engaging in industry funding and management, IPR and regulatory affairs (CE Mark), as well as stakeholder engagement and business development. In 2018, I was involved in establishing operations at CYENS, an EU-funded Centre of Excellence in Cyprus, where I was also Partnerships Manager, responsible for identifying and building relationships between the Centre and commercial and non-commercial organisations in Cyprus, Europe and abroad. I am also co-founder of the Cyprus medtech start-up MindXs. I joined the InFLAMES Flagship at the University of Turku as Research Manager since early 2022.
Teaching
As my roles in recent years have been outside academia, I have not taught since 2012. Previously, I was a lecturer at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, where I developed and taught over 10 different modules and courses in anatomy, physiology, and genetics, using lectures, workshops, and practicals, in nursing, pre-med, dietetics, psychology, and biology programmes.
Research
Although no longer directly involved in research, my previous research interests were centered on human genetics, identifying chromosomal abnormalities or genetic variants in different conditions, ranging from intellectual impairments to metabolic disorders. Research efforts also included identifying candidate genes implicated in autism spectrum disorders, focusing on genes involved in the dopaminergic system, as well as neurophysiological paradigm testing of impulse control in affected individuals and family members. My work has inherently involved humans, being cohort and family-based studies. While in industry, I was involved in external funding, IPR and regulatory aspects of R&D pipelines in start-ups for new healthcare diagnostic products/services.