Biography

Ioanna is born and raised in Kalamata, Greece. In 2008 she moved in Patras, Greece where she resided until 2015. During this period Ioanna obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Material Science, from the University of Patras, Greece. Ioanna started her research career at her senior undergraduate years. The two major research projects that she was involved at University of Patras were 1. the preparation of polymers that were loaded with drugs and the examination of the rate of drug release under certain conditions, and 2. the synthesis and characterization of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) powder from precursor materials. In 2016 Ioanna has been a research visitor at the University of Greenwich, UK, where she examined the possibility of 3D printed catheters, whose surface would have been covered with biocompatible polymer containing dispersed ZnO powder. In 2017 Ioanna has been a research visitor at Purdue University, Indiana, USA, where she worked on the interesting project of using a pipeline to process population genetic data and create preliminary exploratory results. This pipeline was using standard statistical algorithms such as Principal Component Analysis and ADMIXTURE, to cluster individuals according to their ancestry.

Research Interests

Biomaterials, synthesis and characterization of polymers, electrospinning ,3d-printing, load/release of drugs from polymers, kidney stones analysis, synthesis/characterization of ZnO, population genetics.

Skills

Biocompatible materials with focus on biocompatible polymers.Physicochemical characterization of polymer films and fibres.Release of bioactive compounds from polymeric matrices.Synthesis and characterization Bioactive Glasses.Biological calcification, physicochemical characterization of crystals that were formed in pathological conditions.Synthesis and characterization (sturctural, optical, morphological) of nanoparticles of ZnORelease of bioactive compounds from nanoparticles of ZnO that were formed via chemical synthesis

Experimental Skills

X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD)Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA)Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)Ultraviolet-Visible and Visible Spectrophotometry (UV-Vis)Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy/Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR/ATR)Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)Photoluminance (PL)

PhD Project Overview

Ioanna’s PhD research is concentrating on “New Polymers for Biomedical Applications” and is supervised by Professor Matthew Gibson. The research, that is funded by an industrial partner, involves the synthesis of well-defined polymers using controlled radical polymerization techniques and applying high resolution analytical methods including MALDI-tof to analyse their structure. These polymers will be evaluated in a diverse range of application areas.

Publications

Christina Karavasili, Elsa P. Amanatiadou, Eleni Kontogiannidou, Georgios K. Eleftheriadis, Nikolaos Bouropoulos, Eleni Pavlidou, Ioanna Kontopoulou, Ioannis S. Vizirianakis, Dimitrios G. Fatouros (2017), Comparison of different zeolite framework types as carriers for the oral delivery of the poorly soluble drug indomethacin, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 528:76-87

Georgios K. Eleftheriadis, Maria Filippousi, Vassiliki Tsachouridou, Maria-Anna Darda, Lamprini Sygellou, Ioanna Kontopoulou, Nikolaos Bouropoulos, Theodoros Steriotis, Georgia Charalambopoulou, Ioannis S. Vizirianakis, Gustaaf Van Tendeloo, Dr. Dimitrios G. Fatouros (2016), Evaluation of mesoporous carbon aerogels as carriers of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen, 515(1-2):262-270

I. Kontopoulou, A. Angelopoulou, N. Bouropoulos (2016), ZnO spherical porous nanostructures obtained by thermal decomposition of zinc palmitate, Materials Letters, 165:87-90

L. Costantini, N. Bouropoulos, D. Fatouros, I. Kontopoulou, M. Roldo (2016), Synthesis of carbon nanotubes loaded hydroxyapatite: potential for controlled drug release from bone implants, JJournal of Advanced Ceramics, Journal of Advanced Ceramics, 5(3):232–243

C. Karavasili, L. Kokove, I. Kontopoulou, G. Eleftheriadis, N. Bouropoulos, D. Fatouros (2016), Dissolution enhancement of the poorly soluble drug nifedipine by co-spray drying with microporous zeolite beta., Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, 35:91-97

C. Karavasili, N. Bouropoulos, I. Kontopoulou, A. Smith, S. M. van der Merwe, I. U.R. Rehman,Z. Ahmad, D. G. Fatouros (2014), Preparation and Characterization of Multiactive Electrospun Fibers: Poly-_-carpolactone Fibers Loaded with Hydroxyapatite and Selected NSAIDs, J. Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 102(8):2583-2589

 

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