Rank/Position: Associate Professor, University of Thessaly Scientific Field: Food Microbiology and Microbial Fermentations for Biopolymer Production Faculty/Department/Research Institution: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Thessaloniki

Student Contact Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday 15:00 – 17:00

Dr. Ioannis Giavasis is a Food Scientist with specialization in Food Microbiology – Biotechnology and Microbial Fermentations. He obtained his degree (with an integrated postgraduate title) from the Department of Agriculture, Food Science and Technology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1992), and his PhD from the Department of Biosciences, University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom, 2001). He has worked as a research assistant at the Alpine Dairy Institute (Rotholz, Austria), at the University of Strathclyde and as a principal (postdoctoral) researcher for the companies Masterfoods (United Kingdom) and Pelecan (Greece) on the optimization of microbial fermentations and the development of low-heat ready-to-eat packaged foods, respectively. From 2004 to 2008 he worked as a contract lecturer in different University Departments and in 2008 he was appointed Professor (Lecturer) of Applications at the former TEI of Thessaly. He is currently Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Thessaly in Karditsa.

He has collaborated with other research institutions in Greece and abroad and with a number of food companies-industries in Greece and abroad in 20 competitive research projects (3 European and 17 national with or without European co-financing) of which he was the scientific director in 5 and 50 self-funded research and development projects of new products or quality control in collaboration with food industries in Greece and abroad, (of which he was the scientific director in 38) as well as in 4 educational projects as the scientific director-supervisor of the development of digital educational material and adult education (in collaboration with KEDIVIM of the University of Thessaly or other institutions). He has published >60 research articles, review articles and book chapters that have received >2660 citations in the international literature. He is a co-editor in 3 volumes of scientific books and a co-inventor in 6 patents related to functional foods, natural antimicrobial-antioxidant ingredients and utilization of by-products for the production of bioactive compounds. From 2022 to date, he is included in the top 2% of the most influential scientists worldwide in the field of Food Science, according to the international evaluation list of the publishing house Elsevier and Stanford University (USA) (Elsevier, https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/6 ).

<

Rank/Position: Assistant Professor, Uni.W.A.

Scientific Field: Food Processing and Preservation

Faculty/Department/Research Institution: Department of Food Science and Technology, PA.D.A.

Student Contact Hours: Monday 12.00-15.00, Friday 10.00-13.00

Dr. Eleni Gogou is a Chemical Engineer from NTUA (2003) and has received a PhD from the Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Technology of the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (2010). She has served (May 2021-January 2023) as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Food Science & Nutrition, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, with a focus on “Food Processing and Preservation”. Since January 2024, she has been an Assistant Professor at the Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Food Sciences, University of West Attica, with a focus on “Food Process Engineering and Fruit and Vegetable Processing/Preservation”.

She has participated in European and Greek funded research programs in the scientific fields of design and development of food processing and preservation methods including mild processing methods such as ultra-high pressure, pulsed electric fields and osmotic dehydration as well as active packaging technologies. He has research experience in the development of tools for controlling and verifying the effectiveness of thermal and non-thermal (ultra-high pressure) food processing methods. He has many years of research in the study of smart packaging tools (time-temperature integrators) for their application to perishable, refrigerated foods as tools for controlling the cold chain and in the collection of time-temperature data of the cold chain and the development of mathematical models for determining the quality and remaining shelf life of foods at various stages of the cold chain.

In recent years, he has worked intensively both at a research and professional level (with the establishment of a start-up company) in the development of methods for recovering bioactive components from aromatic/medicinal plants and from by-products of the agri-food sector. In the context of collaborative research programs and collaborations with food industries, he has experience in the utilization and use of bioactive ingredients in food products to extend shelf life and reduce/replace synthetic preservatives.

He has published work in peer-reviewed scientific articles (15), book chapters (5) and scientific conference proceedings (37) (SCOPUS: 652 citations, h-index: 12, GOOGLE SCHOLAR: 994 citations, , h-index: 14, i10 index: 17). He is a member of the “Science Dissemination & Communication Standing Committee” of the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) and of the “Alliance for the Reduction of Food Waste” in Greece.

Rank/Position: Associate Professor, University of Thessaly

Scientific Field: Molecular Biology in Food Science

Faculty/Department/Research Institution: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Thessaly

My research interests have focused mainly on microbes, common inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract (Bifidobacterium bifidum and Escherichia coli), the oral cavity (Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia) or opportunistic pathogens (Bacteroides fragilis and Bacillus anthracis) which are directly related to human health. All these microbes use a multitude of mechanisms to enter and establish themselves in the human body, to escape the host defense system, to modify the environment to their advantage and to extract materials for growth and dissemination.

Using a combination of structural (X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy) biochemical, microbiological and molecular approaches, many protein mechanisms have been investigated and their function and biological role revealed. My work has focused mainly on metallopeptidases (e.g. fragilysin) and different types of peptidase inhibitors (e.g. α2-macroglobulin and serpins), but also on other virulence factors or modifying enzymes (e.g. arginine deiminase and galactosidases) of microbial or human origin. Part of my research activity has also focused on membrane proteins, including a peptidase from E. coli and an unknown protein from Helicobacter pylori.

At the same time, part of my research activity had a technological impact which is evident from 3 international patents currently used by a biotechnology company for the production of functional components. Some others led to the development of biotechnological tools, such as a series of plasmid vectors for protein overexpression and purification (pCri System) and a new peptidase as an alternative to trypsin for proteomic analyses (Lysarginase).

Rank/Position: Associate Professor, University of Thessaly

Scientific Field: Technology, Quality and Safety of Animal-Origin Foods

Faculty/Department/Research Institution: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Thessaly

Student Contact Hours: Tuesday: 13:00-15:00, Wednesday: 12:00-14:00, Thursday: 12:00-14:00

Dr. Myrsini Kakagianni is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, with a subject area of ​​“Technology, Quality and Safety of Animal-Origin Foods”. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a focus on Molecular Biology, Genetics and Biotechnology (Department of Biology) and her Master’s Degree in Food Science and Technology (Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture) from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in 2008 and 2010 respectively. She continued her studies at the same department (Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) from where she obtained her PhD in 2018. The title of her doctoral thesis was: “Development and application of mathematical models for predicting the behavior of thermophilic spore-forming bacteria in foods”.

She then carried out postdoctoral research at the Laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology (Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly). Since 2010, she has participated as a Researcher and member of Research Groups in 4 European (Delicious, Excel4Med, Q-SAFE, ProSafeBeef – FP6, EUPA) and 9 national (ELIDEK – TranSeafood, Measure 16 – INNOVAPOULTRY, ELIDEK – BeMost, Research-Create-Innovate 2nd Cycle – ForFUN, National Flagship Action “OLIVE ROADS”, ProbioDairyMeat, THALIS, MOIKOM – ERDF and OPCEII, NSRF 2007-2013) funded projects and in 2 self-funded projects.

Her research interests include the study and improvement of food quality and safety, the development of quantitative microbiology tools (mathematical models) and (microbiological and chemical) hazard determination, the study of food shelf life, microbial interactions, the microencapsulation of probiotic microorganisms in milk and meat products for incorporation with enhanced protection, the study of microbiomes. The results of her research have been published in 15 research papers in international scientific journals of SCI, 2 chapters in books and 39 proceedings of international and national scientific conferences with 2 of which participations as an invited speaker, while her published work has 211 references and an h=8 index. In total, she has participated in 27 seminars (workshops) and conferences. From 2018 to present, she is a member of 10 editorial boards of the journals Food Research International, International Journal of Food Microbiology, Food Control, Food Microbiology, International Dairy Journal, Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology, Frontiers in Microbiology – Food Microbiology, Journal of Applied Microbiology, The Microbe, npj Science of Food, invited reviewer for the evaluation of funded research proposals for the National Science Center, Poland (2021) and for the 4th and 5th International Congress on Applied Ichthyology, Oceanography & Aquatic Environment (HydroMedit 2021, 2024) and a member of the Hellenic Scientific Society MICROBIOKOSMOS, International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) and the Applied Microbiology International (AMI) journal, while she provided advice and support on foodborne diseases during brainstorming sessions in the IGEM group (Amalthea research project) Thessaly 2020.

She has participated as a research member of the MAH (Microbiology And Hygiene Group) (Laboratory of Microbiology and Food Hygiene, Department of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) in the 6th campaign “Spin your Thesis!-2015” of the European Space Agency (07-18/09/15) at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (research topic of the proposal: “Effect of hypergravity on the thermal resistance of microbes”) and received an Excellence Award from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. At the same time, microbial growth data have been uploaded to the Combase database (https://browser.combase.cc) (07/03/2019) for the articles “Kakagianni, M. (et al.), 2016: Development and application of Geobacillus stearothermophilus growth model for predicting spoilage of evaporated milk. Food Microbiology. 57:28-35″ and “Kakagianni, M (et al.), 2018: Development and validation of predictive models for the effect of storage temperature and pH on the growth boundaries and kinetics of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris ATCC 49025 in fruit drinks. Food Microbiology. 74:40-49”.

Rank/Position: Professor, University of Thessaly

Scientific Field: Farm Animal Nutrition, Pig Breeding, Feed Additives

Faculty/Department/Research Institution: Department of Animal Science, University of Thessaly

Graduate of the Athens Agricultural University, Department of Animal Science. Doctorate from the Veterinary School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Technical Manager in a pig farming company. Director of the Food Products Department of a private company and Responsible for providing Technical Support to its customers in animal husbandry issues. Head of the Animal Production Department of the Technical Institute of Thessaly. Former President of the Animal Production Department and the Department of Agricultural Technologists of the Technical Institute of Thessaly. Former Dean of the School of Agricultural Technology and Food and Nutrition Technology of the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly. Director of the Postgraduate Program of the Department of Agricultural Technologists entitled: “Modern Technologies in the Primary Sector and Environmental Management”. Scientifically responsible for 19 projects.