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Dr Ilias Kounatidis

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Lecturer in Biomedical Health Sciences
  • Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • School of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences
  • ilias.kounatidis

Professional biography

  • 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.

Publications

The utility of Drosophila melanogaster as a fungal infection model (2024)
Mpamhanga, Chengetai D. and Kounatidis, Ilias
Frontiers in Immunology, 15, Article 1349027

Systematic analysis of YFP traps reveals common mRNA/protein discordance in neural tissues (2023)
Titlow, Joshua S.; Kiourlappou, Maria; Palanca, Ana; Lee, Jeffrey Y.; Gala, Dalia S.; Ennis, Darragh; Yu, Joyce J.S.; Young, Florence L.; Susano Pinto, David Miguel; Garforth, Sam; Francis, Helena S.; Strivens, Finn; Mulvey, Hugh; Dallman-Porter, Alex; Thornton, Staci; Arman, Diana; Millard, Marissa J.; Järvelin, Aino I.; Thompson, Mary Kay; Sargent, Martin; Kounatidis, Ilias; Parton, Richard M.; Taylor, Stephen and Davis, Ilan
Journal of Cell Biology, 222, Article e202205129(6)

A genetic screen in Drosophila reveals the role of fucosylation in host susceptibility to Candida infection (2022-05-22)
Glittenberg, Marcus; Kounatidis, Ilias; Atilano, Magda and Ligoxygakis, Petros
Disease Models & Mechanisms, 15, Article dmm049218(5)

Correlative cryo-imaging of the cellular universe with soft X-rays and laser light used to track F-actin structures in mammalian cells (2021-12-01)
Koronfel, Mohamed; Kounatidis, Ilias; Mwangangi, Dennis; Vyas, Nina; Okolo, Chidinma; Jadhav, Archana; Fish, Thomas; Chotchuang, Phatcharin; Schulte, Albert; Robinson, Robert and Harkiolaki, Maria
Acta Crystallographica Section D, 77(12) (pp. 1479-1485)

Sample preparation strategies for efficient correlation of 3D SIM and soft X-ray tomography data at cryogenic temperatures (2021-06)
Okolo, Chidinma A.; Kounatidis, Ilias; Groen, Johannes; Nahas, Kamal L.; Balint, Stefan; Fish, Thomas M.; Koronfel, Mohamed A.; Cortajarena, Aitziber L.; Dobbie, Ian M.; Pereiro, Eva and Harkiolaki, Maria
Nature Protocols, 16(6) (pp. 2851-2885)

Single Cell Cryo-Soft X-ray Tomography Shows That Each Chlamydia Trachomatis Inclusion Is a Unique Community of Bacteria (2021)
Phillips, Patrick; Parkhurst, James M.; Kounatidis, Ilias; Okolo, Chidinma; Fish, Thomas M.; Naismith, James H.; Walsh, Martin A.; Harkiolaki, Maria and Dumoux, Maud
Life, 11, Article 842(8)

Correlative multi-scale cryo-imaging unveils SARS-CoV-2 assembly and egress (2021)
Mendonça, Luiza; Howe, Andrew; Gilchrist, James B.; Sheng, Yuewen; Sun, Dapeng; Knight, Michael L.; Zanetti-Domingues, Laura C.; Bateman, Benji; Krebs, Anna-Sophia; Chen, Long; Radecke, Julika; Li, Vivian D.; Ni, Tao; Kounatidis, Ilias; Koronfel, Mohamed A.; Szynkiewicz, Marta; Harkiolaki, Maria; Martin-Fernandez, Marisa L.; James, William and Zhang, Peijun
Nature Communications, 12, Article 4629

Cryo-Structured Illumination Microscopic Data Collection from Cryogenically Preserved Cells (2021)
Vyas, Nina; Perry, Nina; Okolo, Chidinma A.; Kounatidis, Ilias; Fish, Thomas M.; Nahas, Kamal L.; Jadhav, Archana; Koronfel, Mohamed A.; Groen, Johannes; Pereiro, Eva; Dobbie, Ian M. and Harkiolaki, Maria
Journal of Visualized Experiments, Article e62274(171)

A 3D Cartographic Description of the Cell by Cryo Soft X-ray Tomography (2021)
Groen, Johannes; Sorrentino, Andrea; Aballe, Lucía; Oliete, Robert; Valcárcel, Ricardo; Okolo, Chidinma; Kounatidis, Ilias; Harkiolaki, Maria; Pérez-Berná, Ana Joaquina and Pereiro, Eva
Journal of Visualized Experiments, Article e62190(169)

3D Correlative Cryo-Structured Illumination Fluorescence and Soft X-ray Microscopy Elucidates Reovirus Intracellular Release Pathway (2020-07)
Kounatidis, Ilias; Megan, Stanifer; Michael, Philips; Perrine, Paul-Gilloteaux; Xavier, Heiligenstein; Hongchang, Wang; Chidinma, Okolo; Thomas, Fish; Matthew, Spink; David, Stuart; Ilan, Davis; Steeve, Boulant; Jonathan, Grimes; Ian, Dobbie and Maria, Harkiolaki
Cell, 182(2) (pp. 515-530)

Nuclear Factor-Kappa B and Alzheimer Disease, Unifying Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors from Cell to Humans (2017-12)
Jones, Simon Vann and Kounatidis, Ilias
Frontiers in Immunology, 8, Article 1805

Interaction Between Familial Transmission and a Constitutively Active Immune System Shapes Gut Microbiota in Drosophila melanogaster (2017-06)
Mistry, Rupal; Kounatidis, Ilias and Ligoxygakis, Petros
Genetics, 206(2) (pp. 889-904)

NF-κB Immunity in the Brain Determines Fly Lifespan in Healthy Aging and Age-Related Neurodegeneration (2017)
Kounatidis, Ilias; Chtarbanova, Stanislava; Cao, Yang; Hayne, Margaret; Jayanth, Dhruv; Ganetzky, Barry and Ligoxygakis, Petros
Cell Reports, 19(4) (pp. 836-848)

Exploring interactions between pathogens and the Drosophila gut (2016)
Mistry, Rupal; Kounatidis, Ilias and Ligoxygakis, Petros
Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 64 (pp. 3-10)

Genetic and Cytogenetic Analysis of the Walnut-Husk Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) (2010-11-01)
Drosopoulou, E; Koeppler, K; Kounatidis, I; Nakou, I; Papadopoulos, N T; Bourtzis, K and Mavragani-Tsipidou, P
Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 103(6) (pp. 1003-1011)

Evaluation of Potential Genotoxicity of Virgin Olive Oil (VOO) Using the Drosophila Wing-Spot Test (2009-08-13)
Kounatidis, Ilias; Papoti, Vassiliki T.; Nenadis, Nikolaos; Franzios, Gerasimos; Oikonomou, Mariangella; Partheniou, Fedra; Tsimidou, Maria and Mavragani-Tsipidou, Penelope
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57(17) (pp. 7785-7789)

Acetobacter tropicalis Is a Major Symbiont of the Olive Fruit Fly (Bactrocera oleae) (2009-05)
Kounatidis, Ilias; Crotti, Elena; Sapountzis, Panagiotis; Sacchi, Luciano; Rizzi, Aurora; Chouaia, Bessem; Bandi, Claudio; Alma, Alberto; Daffonchio, Daniele; Mavragani-Tsipidou, Penelope and Bourtzis, Kostas
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 75(10) (pp. 3281-3288)

Effect of elevation on spatio‐temporal patterns of olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) populations in northern Greece (2008-12)
Kounatidis, Ilias; Papadopoulos, N. T.; Mavragani‐Tsipidou, P.; Cohen, Y.; Tertivanidis, K.; Nomikou, M. and Nestel, D.
Journal of Applied Entomology, 132(9-10) (pp. 722-733)

Genetic and cytogenetic analysis of the fruit fly Rhagoletis cerasi (Diptera: Tephritidae) (2008-07)
Kounatidis, Ilias; Papadopoulos, Nikolao; Bourtzis, Kostas and Mavragani-Tsipidou, Penelope
Genome, 51(7) (pp. 479-491)

Correlative Cryo-imaging Using Soft X-Ray Tomography for the Study of Virus Biology in Cells and Tissues (2023)
Jadhav, Archana and Kounatidis, Ilias
In: Vijayakrishnan, Swetha; Yaming, Jiu and Robin, Harris eds. Virus Infected Cells. Subcellular Biochemistry (pp. 169-196)
ISBN : 978-3-031-40085-8 | Publisher : Springer