Dr Ilias Kounatidis

• 2022 - Today: Lecturer in Biomedical and Health Sciences, The Open University 
• 2021 - Today: External Scientific Expert, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy
• 2018 - 2022: Beamline Scientist, Cryo-Imaging group, Diamond Light Source (UK's National Synchrotron)
• 2017 - 2020: Master in Education (strand: Leadership and Management), School of Education, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
• 2016 - 2017: Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (PCTHE) Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD), Oxford Brookes University, Oxford UK
• 2011 - 2017: Postdoctoral Researcher, Biochemistry Department, University of Oxford, UK
• 2006 - 2010: PhD in Microbiology & Genetics, School of Biology, Aristotle Universisty of Thessaloniki, Greece
• 2000 - 2005: BSc in Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle Universisty of Thessaloniki, Greece

Ilias is a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (FRMS) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Currently, he serves as a coordinator of the Neuroscience research cluster at the School of Life & Health Sciences (LHCS) at the Open University, alongside Dr. Laura Lopez.

Research interests

• Host pathogen interaction topics with a special interest on fungal pathogenesis (Candida spp.)
• Development and application of correlative microscopy schemes in biomedical topics.
• Compounds screening for antimicrobial properties. 
• Study of inflammageing phenomenon using invertebrate models.

Prospective research students

• Ilias can supervise postgraduate research projects linked to his interests as part of the new Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA) doctoral training programme. 

Our lab's work is alligned with the following ILESLA research themes:

1. Animal and Human Health with pothential research topics: 

Antimicrobial Resistance, Immunology, Microbiology, Microbiome science, Healthy Ageing & Pharmaceutical and vaccine production

2. Rules of life with pothential research topics:

Cellular mechanisms, Genetics

3. Transformative Technologies with potential research topics:

Advanced experimental techniques, Imaging, Synchrotron science, Cryo-EM

To apply for the new ILESLA PhD doctoral training programme at The Open University, click here.

• I am also open to discussing potential projects with self-funded prospective PhD students, whether based at home or overseas.