Professor Elias Eliopoulos is the Director of the Genetics Laboratory at the Biotechnology Department of the Agricultural University of Athens (A.U.A.) and leads the bioinformatics and structural biology group. He is professor of Biochemistry, a biophysicist and crystallographer by training with considerable experience in biomolecular structure analysis, epitope mapping of protein receptors, genetic polymorphisms and variation, cloning, with experimental and computational methods, protein structure prediction, ligand and drug design, protein design, in silico antibody design and biosoftware development. The group has experience and international reputation on computational protein folding, ab initio and homology modeling of proteins derived from edge gene research and membrane protein modeling. The group is also involved in many ligand computational design projects for pharmaceutical, medicinal and agricultural applications. 

EDUCATION

2019: PhD in Structural Biology and Protein Biomaterials (UoC, IMBB-FORTH - Greece)

2012: M.Sc. in Protein Biotechnology (UoC-Greece)

2009: Diploma Degree in Biology (UoC-Greece)

WORKING EXPERIENCE

Oct 2019 – Now: Post-Doctoral Researcher at I.M.B.B.-F.O.R.TH, Greece
                                (Laboratory of Structural Biology)

Sep 2020 – Now: Autonomous teaching and exam organizing of the under-graduate courses
                                "Enzymatic Biotechnology" and “Protein Engineering” at the Dept. of
                                 Biology of the Uni. of Crete

2014 – 2020:  Experienced scientist position at I.M.B.B.-F.O.R.TH, Greece (InnovCrete project /FP7-Regpot  program) and at University of Crete

Oct. 2010 –Jan. 2011: Laboratory Teaching Assistant of Microbiology Teaching Lab

                                        at the Dept. of Biology, Uni. of Crete

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

*Kefala K., Kotsifaki D., Providaki M., Kapetaniou E., Rahme L. and Kokkinidis M. Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the C-terminal fragment of the MvfR protein of  Pseudomonas aeruginosa. (2012). Acta. Cryst F, 68, 695-697

*Kefala A., Kotsifaki D., Providaki M., Amprazi M. and Kokkinidis M. Expression, purification and crystallization of a protein resulting from the inversion of the aminoacid sequence of a helical bundle. (2017). ). Acta. Cryst F, 73, 51-53

 Dimovasili C., Fadouloglou V.E.,  Kefala A.,  Providaki M., Kotsifaki D,  Sarrou I.,  Plaitakis A.,  Zaganas I. and Kokkinidis M. Crystal structure of glutamate dehydrogenase 2, a positively selected novel human enzyme involved in brain biology and cancer pathophysiology. Journal of Neurochemistry (accepted) 

RESEARCH PROFILE

Being in a Structural Biology group since 2011, Dr. Kefala A. has studied deeply the protein folding problem, elucidating the relation between amino acid sequence and structural properties of α-helical bundles. The knowledge obtained was used for protein design leading to bio-derived materials for bio-medical applications and basic research through structural studies of protein folding through reverse sequences.

Notable achievements include: 

The elucidation of the protein folding of mutants of the α-helical protein Rop that is used as a canonical paradigm of this structural motif.

Protein design of novel protein-based biomaterials with specific engineered properties.