Christina Kyrousi is Assistant Professor of Biology-Neurobiology at the Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and affiliated scientist at the University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute "Costas Stefanis", Athens, Greece. She is a developmental neurobiologist who has excellent experience in cortical development, human brain disease and adult neurogenesis. Her research focuses on scrutinizing the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating brain development and on identifying convergence and divergence in brain-related disorders. She uses a variety of models, including animal models and human-specific 2D and 3D in vitro models and she is applying state-of-the-art approaches. Christina Kyrousi has received several notable scientific prizes including IBRO Early Career Award, “Fotis Kafatos” Award for excellence in biology from Hellenic Society of Bioscientists, Erasmus placement fellowship, EMBO short-term fellowship and a Research Grant from the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI). She is an alternate member of the Hellenic Society of Neuroscience board and a member of many national and international Societies. Kyrousi-cv

Spyros Merkouris obtained his Diploma in Biology from University of Crete, then moved to Paris where he completed his Master studies in Cell and Developmental Biology (University Pierre and Marie Curie, Institute Jacques Monod) under an IKY scholarship. He received his PhD from Cardiff University, working in the lab of Yves Barde, studying BDND-TrkB signalling in human embryonic stem cell (hESCs) derived neurons. During his PhD he demonstrated that BDNF and NT4 are indistinguishable in terms of transcriptomic expression in human neurons, and contributed significantly to the development and description of a novel monoclonal antibody that binds to TrkB and closely mimics BDNF, therefore possessing therapeutic potential. He has also developed RNA seq analysis skills and he is interested in combining 2-D and 3-D in vitro human models with bioinformatics to study human brain development in order to decipher the molecular pathways affected in various diseases. Currently he is a postdoctoral scientist in Prof. Kyrousi’s lab where he uses brain organoids derived from human ESCs together with bioinformatics to unravel the role of primary-cilia related genes in the context of cortical malformations. (Email: spymerkouris@gmail.com)

Stella Vassalou graduated from the Department of Biology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2020. Her Bachelor thesis focused on the expression levels of a microRNA in patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. She completed her Master studies at the Medical School of the University of Patras in 2023. She carried out her Master thesis in the Stem Cell Laboratory of the Physiology Department, where she studied signalling alterations influencing ependymal cell generation in a hydrocephalus mouse model, as well as the reprogramming of embryonic Stem Cells into the ependymal cell lineage. She has attented a great number of conferences related to Molecular Biology, Neurosciences and Physiology, and she got to present the results of her thesis via poster presentation at the 72nd Conference of the Hellenic Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and orally at the joint meeting of the Hellenic Society of Physiology, the American Physiological Society, the Academy of Athens, and Physiological Reviews. Currently she is a PhD candidate in Dr. Kyrousi’s lab, where she intends to use patient-derived brain organoids to study the pathophysiological mechanisms that are implicated in the manifestation of chronic late-onset ataxia. (Email: stella.vassalou@gmail.com)

Sylia Christou  graduated from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Democritus University of Thrace (D.U.Th.) in 2023. Her Bachelor’s thesis focused on investigating the role of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1B1 (ALDH1B1) in energy metabolism in human lung adenocarcinoma. She completed her Master’s studies in Neuroscience at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) in 2024. For her Master’s thesis, titled "The effects of high-fat diet and subsequent treatment with GLP-1 analogue in the brain of a murine model of familial Alzheimer’s disease," she explored the association between Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease. By inducing a diabetic phenotype in Alzheimer’s Disease mice (5xFAD model), she investigated the potential therapeutic effects of GLP-1 agonists. Acknowledging the absence of a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, she examined whether GLP-1 agonists, which regulate insulin levels and enhance insulin sensitivity, could mitigate Alzheimer’s pathology. She contributed to animal handling, behavioral tests, and experimental workflows such as ELISA, immunohistochemistry, and data analysis. Currently, Sylia is a Research Assistant in Dr. Kyrousi’s lab at the University Mental Health Research Institute (UMHRI), Athens, Greece, where she is investigating the role of cilia-related genes in cortical development using brain organoids and advanced molecular techniques. (Email:  sylia.i.christou@gmail.com)

Panagiota Nti Kostantzo received her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Patras, where she performed her undergraduate thesis at the Laboratory of Developmental Biology researching neural stem cells. During her undergraduate studies she was involved in volunteering at the Botanical Museum - HERBARIUM of the Department of Biology, she was part of the European Researchers’ Night in 2018, together with the Botany Laboratory and she was part of an e-poster presentation paper at the 25th Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students. Currently, she is a master's student at the Athens International Master's Program in Neurosciences, at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Throughout the first year of the master's program, she visited different laboratories and was trained in two-photon microscopy, neuroimmunology and behavioral techniques. She joined the lab as a master’s student and her master’s thesis is related to the role of cilia-related genes in the proliferation of neural progenitor cells. (Email: pntiko@biol.uoa.gr)

Stylianos Lagouros graduated from Biology Department, University of Crete. He is now a master's student at the Athens International Master's Programme in Neuroscience, NKUA. In his undergraduate thesis he explored patterns of molecular evolution emerging with gene duplications of mitochondrial respiratory chain component genes. He is currently working on his master's thesis, trying to untangle the functional connection between cilia-related gene OFD1 and cortical development focusing mainly in immunohistochemical treatment of brain organoids.