Download Curriculum vitae

Curriculum vitae
AVGI TSOLOU
Personal details
Date of birth: 12/01/1979
Place of birth: Alexandroupolis, Evros, Greece
Nationality: Greek
Sex: Female
Contact details
Address: Dimitras 30, 68100, Alexandroupolis
Email: [email protected]
Mobile Phone No: 0030-6977852035
FAX: 0030-2551029145
Education:
 01/10/2004-04/12/2007: PhD on “Cellular responses to uncapped telomeres in eukaryotic cells”
at the Henry Wellcome laboratory for Biogerontology Research, School of Clinical Medical
Sciences, Medical School, Newcastle University, UK. Work supervised by Professor David
Lydall and Professor Thomas von Zglinicki.
 09/2002-09/2003: MSc in Molecular Genetics at the University of Leicester, UK. MSc Thesis:
“Molecular diversity and divergence of cryptochrome; a blue-light photoreceptor in Drosophila”.
 09/1997 - 26/03/2002: Biology School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece); graduated
with overall grade 7.3/10 (A 2:1 equivalent).
Specialized degree components
 10/2000-02/2002: Diploma thesis on “Analysis of the genetic structure of four Irish and one
Spanish population of the European lobster”. Thesis part of a European INCO scientific project.
(Manuscript published in a peer-reviewed Scientific Journal). Grade 10/10
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 07/2001-08/2001: A two-month practical course in the University Hospital of Alexandroupolis,
Greece on “Karyotype analysis”.
Grade 10/10
 02/2000-06/2000: Erasmus-Socrates student in the School of Biology and Biochemistry, at the
Queen’s University of Belfast. Classified in the top 10% of the students.
 Graduated high school (Eniaio Polykladiko Likeio Alexandroupolis) in 1996, grade 19.5/20.
Research Experience
 12/2014-05/2015: Post-doctoral researcher at the Unit of Radiobiology and
Radiopathology, Department of Radiotherapy-Oncology, Democritus University of Thrace,
University Hospital of Alexandroupolis. PI: Prof. Dr M. Koukourakis.
 01/2012-04/2014: Post-doctoral Researcher in the Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology,
Cell Cycle and Proteomics, Democritus University of Thrace. PI: Ass. Prof Dr M Koffa
 01/02/2008-31/07/2011: Post-doctoral Researcher at the National Hellenic Research
Foundation, Institute of Biological Research and Biotechnology, Programme of Molecular and
Cellular Ageing. PI: Dr E.Gonos.
 10/2009-12/2009: Visiting scientist at the laboratory of Thomas von Zglinicki, Professor of
Cellular Gerontology, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, for training on
high-throughput techniques and collaborating purposes
 10/2003-12/2003: Research assistant at the laboratory of Ass. Professor V. Veletza, Laboratory
of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Demokritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis,
Greece.
Teaching Experience
 Academic year 2015-2016, Science-Biology Teacher, 2ary Education.
 Spring Semester, Academic year 2014-2015, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Biochemistry" at the specialty "Pharmacy Assistant".
 Fall Semester, Academic year 2014-2015, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Cosmetology I", at the specialty "Pharmacy Assistant".
 Fall Semester, Academic year 2014-2015, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Pharmaceutical Physics", at the specialty "Pharmacy Assistant".
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 Fall Semester, Academic year 2014-2015, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Methods of Drug Screening", at the specialty "Pharmacy Assistant".
 Spring Semester, Academic year 2013-2014, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Biochemistry" at the specialty "Pharmacy Assistant".
 Spring Semester, Academic year 2013-2014, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Biochemistry II" at the specialty "Medical Laboratory Assistant".
 Fall Semester, Academic year 2013-2014, Department of Molecular Biology and
Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace: Tutor at the laboratory practice of
undergraduate students within the module "Cellular Biology".
 Fall Semester, Academic year 2013-2014, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Biochemistry I" at the specialty "Medical Laboratory Assistant".
 Spring Semester, Academic year 2012-2013, public IEK of Alexandroupolis: Module "
Biochemistry" at the specialty "Technical Assistant of Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics and
Relevant Products".
 Fall Semester, Academic year 2012-2013, Department of Molecular Biology and
Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace: Tutor at the laboratory practice of
undergraduate students within the module "Cellular Biology".
 08/2004-11/2007: Involved in teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate level,
preparation of lectures and participation in demonstration and training courses for BSci,
MSci and PhD students at Newcastle University.
 10-12/2003: Supervision of optional practical course of 1st year undergraduate students of
the Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace.
Main Research Fields of Interest

Cancer and Radiotherapy

Cellular and Molecular Ageing
 DNA Damage and Repair
 Nanoparticles in Medicine
 Evolutionary and molecular mechanisms of behaviour
 Population Genetics
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Participation in European and National Research Projects

12/2014-05/2015: "Targeting Autophago-Lysosomal Kinetics for the treatment of cancer
and the prevention of anti-cancer therapy toxicities", implemented under the "BUSINESS
PROGRAMME" EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING "ACTION ARISTEIA", PI:
M Koukourakis.

11/2013-04/2014: “Cross Border epidemiology of sexually transmitted viral infections in the
female populations: molecular diagnostic approaches”, implemented under the European Territorial
Cooperation Programme "Greece-Bulgaria 2007-2013", PI: Ass. Prof E. Alexiou-Chatzaki.

01/01/2012-26/11/2013: "Developing innovative nanoparticles of Ixabepilone and studying the
possibility of their application in treatment of breast cancer (Nanobilon)" PI: Ass. Prof M Koffa, με
ΚΕ 80742, under the National Action Range "Sinergasia" -Act I OP "Competitiveness and
Entrepreneurship '(EPAN-II).

01/02/2008-31/07/2011: «Proteomage: Functional analysis of evolutionarily conserved
mechanisms of ageing on advanced proteome analysis», PI Dr S Gonos, στο within the EU project «
Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area», Contract number ELSHM-CT-2005518230.

09/2000-10/2001: «Genetic diversity in the European lobster (Homarus gammarus): population
structure and impacts of stock enhancement». PI: Prof C Triantaphyllidis, EC-FAIR programme
(CT98 4266).
Technical Skills
 Human cell culture, Mouse and Yeast handling
 Maintenance, crossing and breeding of fly populations
 Confocal microscopy using Laser Scanning and Spinning Disk Technology
 Live Cell Imaging
 Fluorescence Alkaline of DNA Unwinding (FADU)
 Molecular Genetic techniques
 Flow cytometry
 ImmunoFISH and Immunofluorescence
 Molecular Biology techniques (Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP), Immunoprecipitation
(IP), Southern blotting, Western blotting, MTT assay, Alamar blue assay)
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 Use of PCR in a variety of applications i.e. regular PCR, RealTime PCR, Reverse Transcription
PCR, nested PCR, mismatch PCR, PCR for cloning purposes, colony PCR, touchdown PCR, Rapid
Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE) PCR technique.
 DNA cloning, gene knock-outs in S cerevisiae
 Yeast-two-hybrid assay
 Bioinformatics for analysis of DNA sequences
Publications
1) Pegoraro M, Noreen S, Bhutani S, Tsolou, A., Schmid A, Kyriacou CP, Tauber E. “Molecular
Evolution of a Pervasive Natural Amino-Acid Substitution in Drosophila cryptochrome”. PLoS One.
2014 Jan 24;9(1):e86483.
2) Kesisova I; Nakos K; Tsolou A; Angelis D; Lewis J; Chatzaki A; Agianian B; Giannis A; Koffa
MD. "Tripolin A, a Novel Small-Molecule Inhibitor of Aurora A Kinase, Reveals New Regulation of
HURP’s Distribution on Microtubules”. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58485.
3) Jurk D, Wang C, Miwa S, Maddick M, Korolchuk V, Tsolou A, Gonos ES, Thrasivoulou C, Jill
Saffrey M, Cameron K, von Zglinicki T. Postmitotic neurons develop a p21-dependent senescencelike phenotype driven by a DNA damage response. Aging Cell. 2012 Aug 9.
4) Tsolou A, Nelson G, Trachana V, Chondrogianni N, Saretzki G, von Zglinicki T, Gonos ES. The
19S proteasome subunit Rpn7 stabilizes DNA damage foci upon genotoxic insult. IUBMB Life.
2012 May;64(5):432-42. Times cited:1
5) Tsolou, A., Passos, JF., Nelson, G., Arai, Y. and von Zglinicki T. ssDNA fragments induce cell
senescence by telomere uncapping. Exp Gerontol. 2008 Oct;43(10):892-9. Times Cited: 7
6) Tsolou, A. and Lydall, D. Mrc1 protects uncapped budding yeast telomeres from exonuclease
EXO1. DNA Repair (Amst). 2007 Nov 1;6(11):1607-17. Times Cited: 13
7) Triantafyllidis, A., Apostolidis, A. P., Katsares, V., Kelly, E., Mercer, J., Hughes, M., Jørstad, K.
E., Tsolou, A., Hynes, R. and Triantaphyllidis, C. (2005). Mitochondrial DNA variation in the
European lobster (Homarus gammarus) throughout the range. Marine Biology 146: 223–235. Times
Cited: 32
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Articles in preparation
1) P. Siafaka, M. Betsiou, A. Tsolou, S. Chaitidou, E. Karavas, M. Agianian, M. Koffa, D. Bikiaris.
Synthesis of folate-aliphatic polyester nanoparticles in order to be used as targeted receptor
into the treatment of breast cancer.
2) A. Tsolou, E. Aggelou, S Papadimitriou, P. Siafaka, D Bikiaris, M. Agianian, M. Koffa.
Analysis of mechanistic behaviour of Taxol-loaded polyester nanoparticles in cancer cells.
3) A. Tsolou, M. Liousia, D. Kalamida, S. Pouliliou, A Giatromanolaki and M Koukourakis.
Inhibition of the IKK-NFκB pathway sensitizes lung cancer cell lines to radiation.
Oral Communications

61st Congress of the Hellenic Society for Biochemistry and Molecular biology,
Alexandroupolis, Greece (15-17 October 2010): “Distinct role of 19S proteasome subunits in the
DNA damage response”.
 Biogerontology Research Symposium University of Newcastle (June 2007): “ssDNA fragments
titrate Pot1 from telomeres, leading to a senescent phenotype”.
 Postgraduate Research Conference, Newcastle University (26th September, 2006): “Mrc1
contributes to the vitality of cdc13-1 and yku70 telomere capping mutants”.
 Biogerontology Research Symposium University of Newcastle (June 2006): “Interactions
between checkpoint pathways and uncapped telomeres in yeast”.
 Gerontology Research Seminar, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University (6th April
2006): “Modelling telomere-dependent senescence with ssDNA oligonucleotides.
 Biogerontology Research Symposium University of Newcastle (July 2005): “Interactions
between checkpoint pathways and uncapped telomeres in yeast”.
Poster Presentations
 FEBS/SFRR/IUBMB, Advanced Lecture Course: Protein Maintenance and turnover in ageing
and diseases 4-10 June 2010, Island of Spetses, Greece: “Distinct role of 19S proteasome subunits
in the DNA Damage Response”.
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 7th Panhellenic Conference of Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress (ΕΕΕΡΟΣ), 10-13 June 2010,
Island of Spetses, Greece: “Distinct role of 19S proteasome subunits in the DNA Damage
Response”.
 3rd Swedish-Hellenic Life Science Research Conference, Athens, Greece (25-27 March 2010):
“Role of 19S proteasome subunits in damage and stress-induced premature senescence”.
 60th Congress of the Hellenic Society for Biochemistry and Molecular biology, Athens, Greece
(20-22 November 2009): “Role of 19S proteasome subunits in damage and stress-induced
premature senescence”.
 13th Congress of the International Association of Biomedical Gerontology (I.A.B.G), Quebec,
Canada (18-20 May 2009): “Role of 19S proteasome subunits in damage and stress-induced
premature senescence”.
 12th Congress of the International Association of Biomedical Gerontology (IABG), 20-24 May
2007, Island of Spetses, Greece: “Modelling Telomere-Dependent Senescence with ssDNA
Oligonucleotides”.
 Postgraduate Research Conference (26th September, 2006):“Mrc1 contributes to the vitality of
cdc13-1 and yku70 telomere capping mutants”.
 5th European Congress of Biogerontology, 16-20 September 2006, Istanbul, Turkey: “Modelling
telomere-dependent senescence with ssDNA oligonucleotides”.
 Society of General Microbiology meeting, 11-12 September 2006, York: “Mrc1 contributes to
the vitality of cdc13-1 and yku70 telomere capping mutants”.
Scholarships and Awards
 2010: Poster prize on “Role of 19S proteasome subunits in the DNA damage response”, 7th
Panhellenic Conference of Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress (ΕΕΕΡΟΣ), 10-13 June 2010, Island
of Spetses, Greece.
 2007:
Poster
prize
on
“Modelling
Telomere-Dependent
Senescence
with
ssDNA
Oligonucleotides”, 12th Congress of the International Association of Biomedical Gerontology
(IABG), 20-24 May 2007, Island of Spetses, Greece.
 2004: 3-year PhD studentship from Newcastle University
 2002: Scholarship from the Onassis Foundation to attend a summer school on “Cell signaling in
health and disease”. Heraclion, Crete.
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 2000: Erasmus-Socrates Scholarship
 1994 & 1995: Scholarships from the Greek National Institution of Scholarships
Languages
1) Greek: fluent, mother tongue
2) English: fluent
 First certificate in English from the University of Cambridge, on 30/11/1991
 Certificate of Proficiency in English from Michigan University, on 26/02/1994
 IELTS with grade 7/9 on 22/02/2002.
3) Spanish: very good
 Diploma Basico en Español with grade 78% from the University of Salamanca on 25/02/2000.
Society membership
Hellenic Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (since 2009)
Society for General Microbiology (since 2006)
Genetics Society (since 2006)
8
CITATIONS ON PUBLISHED PAPERS (WITH IMPACT FACTOR)
Title
citations
IF
1) Pegoraro M, Noreen S, Bhutani S, Tsolou, A., Schmid A, Kyriacou CP,
3
3.73
5-year
IF
4.24
10
3.73
4.24
57
6.265
7.119
3
3.514
3.598
10
2.879
3.644
21
5.868
3.99
51
1.772
2.471
155
27.76
29.3
Tauber E. “Molecular Evolution of a Pervasive Natural Amino-Acid
Substitution in Drosophila cryptochrome”. PLoS One. 2014 Jan
24;9(1):e86483.
2) Kesisova IA, Nakos KC, Tsolou A, Angelis D, Lewis J, Chatzaki A,
Agianian B, Giannis A, Koffa MD. Tripolin A, a novel small-molecule
inhibitor of aurora A kinase, reveals new regulation of HURP's
distribution on microtubules. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58485.
3) Jurk D, Wang C, Miwa S, Maddick M, Korolchuk V, Tsolou A, Gonos
ES, Thrasivoulou C, Jill Saffrey M, Cameron K, von Zglinicki T.
Postmitotic neurons develop a p21-dependent senescence-like phenotype
driven by a DNA damage response. Aging Cell. 2012 Dec;11(6):9961004.
4) Tsolou A, Nelson G, Trachana V, Chondrogianni N, Saretzki G, von
Zglinicki T, Gonos ES. The 19S proteasome subunit Rpn7 stabilizes DNA
damage foci upon genotoxic insult. IUBMB Life. 2012 May; 64(5):43242.
5) Tsolou, A., Passos, JF., Nelson, G., Arai, Y. and von Zglinicki T.
ssDNA fragments induce cell senescence by telomere uncapping. Exp
Gerontol. 2008 Oct;43(10):892-9.
6) Tsolou, A. and Lydall, D. Mrc1 protects uncapped budding yeast
telomeres from exonuclease EXO1. DNA Repair (Amst). 2007 Nov
1;6(11):1607-17.
7) Triantafyllidis, A., Apostolidis, A. P., Katsares, V., Kelly, E., Mercer,
J., Hughes, M., Jørstad, K. E., Tsolou, A., Hynes, R. and Triantaphyllidis,
C. (2005). Mitochondrial DNA variation in the European lobster
(Homarus gammarus) throughout the range. Marine Biology 146: 223–
235
TOTAL
9