I am an electrical and computer engineer who aims to back-engineer complex biological systems and to discover their inner working principle and the most efficient ways to interact with them. To do so, I often have to invent and build the needed tools and methods along the way.
I am currently working at Prof. Boyden’s lab at MIT. We settled to explore instances of affective states in whole-brain dynamics and how those modulate decision-making. We are studying zebrafish larvae. To do so, we employ high spatio-temporal resolution microscopes like SCAPE and automated experimental and analysis pipelines and optimized genetically expressed indicators of neuronal activity in the zebrafish larvae model. Combining those tools with a robust theoretical framework that enables strictly defined falsifiable hypotheses and matching experimental paradigms, we try to generate the datasets that will allow shining light to non-reflexive behaviors. I am privileged to work in a (team of) teams that augments my thinking framework and experimental observations with complementary ones either related to our model (different zebrafish genotypes, pharmacological stimulations, ex-vivo anatomical and transcriptomics maps, e.t.c) from other models, ranging from worms to human brain organoids. Being able to assist those teams in a variety of imaging/analysis needs provides constant stimulation.
Before coming to MIT, Prof. Westmeyer’s team at Munich (Germany) “hooked me up with” zebrafish research. I had the chance to build a novel tracking microscope that can capture brain imaging from freely swimming fish while learning why this was important and how to showcase it. I developed the needed mindset and skills to build such a highly automated microscope during my Ph.D. under the mentorship of Prof. Ntziachristos (TUM), where I worked in improving imaging fluorescence probes in both pre-clinical and clinical applications with a focus on cancer imaging. My undergraduate education at Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and my Master Thesis (supervised by Prof. Maragos) covered the theory and tools of signals and systems processing and fuel my interest in dynamical systems and how they give rise to chaotic (yet well defined?) patterns.