Agnieszka Cuprys

Postdoctoral fellowNorwegian University of Life Sciences

Field of research: Natural Sciences and Chemistry

Country: Norway

Mother tongue: Polish

Other languages: English

My biography

My scientific journey started at Gdansk University of Technology (Poland). I decided to fight with known or new civilization diseases so pharmaceutical biotechnology became my specialization of choice. However, by the end of my studies, I realized that disease prevention is as important as finding a new cure. Thus, the Ph.D. program connected to environmental biotechnology was what I pursued. My project at INRS (Quebec, Canada) was focused on development of the eco-friendly method to improve wastewater treatment. Currently, I am an MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow at NMBU, where I further develop my interests in water treatment.

My project : Development of Emerging Contaminants – Hybrid Soft Sensor for on-line monitoring of contaminants of emerging concern in water

The objective of this project is to develop novel, cost-effective and simple-to-use monitoring system that would detect in water contaminants of emerging concern, such as pharmaceuticals, hormones, plastics, etc.

The current analytical and monitoring systems of detection of emerging contaminants at low concentration are expensive, time-consuming and usually complicated. To solve this problem, we would like to create a software sensor by using statistical tools, artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts to find hidden correlations between contaminants and parameters like pH, temperature, nitrogen or phosphorous concentration.

Anne-Claire Fabre

Marie Slodowska-Curie FellowMuseum für Naturkunde

Field of research: Natural Sciences

Country: Germany

Mother tongue: French

Other languages: English

My biography

I am a French biologist working at the museum of natural history in Berlin (Germany). My research interest is mainly focused on the understanding of the diversity of life. To do so, I quantify the morphology of animals and try to link to their function and ecology. By doing so, I try to understand the evolution of life on Earth.
 

My project : Metamorphosis as a driver of biodiversity? From a single genome to multiple phenomes

Metamorphosis is one of the most fascinating phenomena in animals, implying an abrupt change in morphology and ecology during the lifetime of an individual transforming it from a larva into an adult (tadpoles to frogs or caterpillars to butterflies for example). From insects to sea urchins, fishes, and frogs, most animals on our planet undergo metamorphosis. The aim of my project is to understand why metamorphosis is so common in animals and whether it is an advantage for them to be able to produce different morphologies in comparison to animals that do not show metamorphosis (including mammals like us, for example), especially in the context of environmental and climate change.

Anthony Colombo

Postdoctoral fellow (assegnista di ricerca)University of Bologna

Field of research: Social Sciences and Humanities; Life Sciences

Country: United States

Mother tongue: French

My biography

I am an anthropologist and a palaeopathologist. I was trained in Bordeaux, and I have worked in Germany, Italy and the United States. By studying our skeleton, through medical imaging and 3D, I seek to understand how children from past populations grew up, if and how growth has changed with evolution, how the wider environment (the surroundings, the care received, their living and cultural conditions, etc.) influences their growth. I also work to identify the diseases that these children may have suffered, whether they survived them or not, to better understand their living conditions in general.

My project : Biped and Autonomous: Bone microarchitecture of the Youngest, PAthological and Cultural Effects

Be able to walk is a very important step in the life of a baby and its parents. A lot of parameters will make vary the age when a baby can walk and it is perfectly normal. In some cultures, babies are able to walk at 9 months old, in others until 18 months old. The BABY PACE projects, by analyzing the structure of the bone tissues from the arm and leg bones, which will change with the locomotor abilities, will allow understanding how babies develop their abilities to move themselves and walk in the populations from the past. The biology of individuals can inform the cultures of the populations from the past.

Emese Sükei

Early Stage ResearcherUniversidad Carlos III de Madrid

Field of research: Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Country: Spain

Mother tongue: Hungarian

Other languages: English, Romanian

My biography

Emese holds an M.Sc. in Mathematical Engineering degree given by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Romania). Currently, Emese is one of the 14 early stage researchers of the ITN project MLFPM, placed at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain). Her research focuses on machine learning applications for personalised medicine in mental health, using electronic medical records and passively sensed mobile data.  
In her free time, she enjoys hiking, dancing, trying new recipes and reading as much as possible.

My project : Machine Learning Frontiers in Precision Medicine

Thanks to the advent of eHealth and mHealth technologies, abundant environmental information can be collected from patients in a non-invasive and passive manner. Using healthcare observations from electronic medical records and the digital footprint of patients machine learning methods can be developed and applied to health data for the continuous assessment of the disease evolution. My project aims to develop machine learning models to understand mental disease evolution based on behavioural data, collected through a mobile app running in the background of the patients' phone, and clinician assessments at the time of the follow-up visits of the patient, which provide ground truths.

Georgia Soursou

Special Scientist (PhD Fellow)University of Cyprus

Field of research: Natural Sciences and Technology

Country: Cyprus

Mother tongue: Greek

Other languages: English

My biography

Hi! My name is Georgia and I currently reside in Cyprus. I am a PhD Fellow at the University of Cyprus and my dissertation is about genetic and environmental interactions of neurodevelopmental deficits in children using the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. RDoC is a novel research framework for understanding mental deficits that consists of dimensional constructs integrating elements of psychology and biology, especially genetics and neuroscience. For my project I will use cognitive (allocation to empathy and threat), genetic (DNA sample), physiology (heart rate, skin conductance), and brain (prefrontal cortex) indicators to find biomarkers for neurodevelopmental deficits in children.

My project : Neo-PRISM-C: NEurodevelopmental Optimal-Predictors, Risk factors, and Intervention from a Systems approach to Maladjustment in Children

My MSCA project tries to understand the role of the genetic and environmental influences in neurodevelopmental deficits occurring in children. It uses self reports (questionnaires), cognitive measurements (computerized tasks), physiological (heart rate, skin conductance),  genetic (DNA sample) and brain (pre-frontal cortex) indicators to examine those influences under the principles of the Research and Domain Criteria (RDoC) to understand psychopathology.

Halil Mecit Öztop

Associate Professor of Food EngineeringMiddle East Technical University

Field of research: Natural Sciences, Chemistry and Technology

Country: Turkey

Mother tongue: Other

Other languages: English

My biography

I am an enthusiastic  food scientist and engineer focusing on  food quality from a chemistry perspective. I have a PhD Degree from Biological Systems engineering from UC Davis where I worked on the 'MR' imaging of foods.  I am coordinating 2 H2020 Projects funded under MSCA RISE (SuChAQuality) and PRIMA Program (FunTomP). Using novel technologies to produce healthy foods is my other research expertise. I am currently a faculty of Food Engineering , teaching food chemistry and preservation courses. 

My project : SuChAQuality-Alternative Quality and Authenticity Methods for Sugar and Confectionery Industry

SuChAQuality is about sugar; chocolate and confectionery. We mostly know these products as foods that give 'joy' to us and may not even think about the science behind them. But what do we need to make these foods 'good quality' and 'original'? What are the quick ways and measures to understand the quality of these products? SuChAQuality will help these industries to develop novel solutions for their quality and authentcity problems. While doing this, we will use many different advanced analytical techniques. And through this process, we will explore the science behind these joyful foods more!

Julia Zinsmeister

Postdoctoral researcherInstitute of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Field of research: Natural Sciences

Country: Poland

Mother tongue: French

My biography

I am a scientist currently working at Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics–PAS, in Warsaw, Poland. Fascinated by seeds and their diversity and ability to survive, I specialized into studying the regulation of the acquisition of seed quality. It is of major interest as it is how seed germinate, survive over time, and it is tightly linked to seed technology, developed in breeding companies. From my studies in horticultural sciences to my Ph.D., experiences in company and academia, I have been then driven by seeds, small objects of the highest importance, from France to the Netherlands, Spain and Poland.

My project : Population-wide analysis of molecular and metabolic features intrinsic to dormancy variability in single seeds

Seeds nutritional and physiological qualities are of major interest. It includes longevity, the time a seed lot can be kept dry without loss of viability (some seeds found in Pharaoh’s tombs were still viable); and dormancy, a specific stage of the seed that will enable germination despite favorable conditions. To maximize species ‘survival, a plant will produce seeds that differ in their physiological stages. However, the mechanisms regulating it are still poorly understood. In order to unravel those mechanisms, the objectives of my project are to analyze single seed quality of diverse Arabidopsis accessions (originated from various climatic regions) and understand their molecular links.

Luigi Angelo Castriotta

Post DOctoral ResearcherUniversity of Rome Tor Vergata

Field of research: Physics, Technology and Natural Sciences  

Country: Italy

Mother tongue: Italian

Other languages: English, Spanish

My biography

Hello! I am Luigi from Rome, Italy!

My research focuses on watching the sun and trying to get all possible energy from it by using special crystals called Perovskites!

Perovskites are like Legos,by finding the right combination you can create an indestructible machine that can resist all possible attacks from opponents! At the same way, by finding the right combination you can create a device who can convert light into electricity without losing energy over time! My work is based on constructing many indestructible machines, with the final aim to create a perfect match on a big scale!

My project : MAESTRO

MAESTRO is an intersectoral and multidisciplinary network of 10 academic and 5 industrial beneficiaries from 9 EU and Associated countries, including 2 countries in the EU-13. Our research concerns perovskite solar cells and light emitters.

Perovskites are a new class of light absorber material for solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity. These solar cells attracted worldwide attention when the efficiency of these cells were made at the fastest pace in industry history and because of their low cost and ease of fabrication. These materials are also effective in the opposite direction, converting from electrical power into light, for new displays and lighting.

Pedro Canhão Costa

Marie Curie Early-Stage Researcher / Ph.D. FellowThe Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

Field of research: Chemistry, Technology and Natural Sciences

Country: Belgium

Mother tongue: Portuguese

Other languages: English

My biography

My name is Pedro and I was born in the Portugal’s capital, the sunny Lisbon. I am a passionate Life Scientist who currently works at Johnson & Johnson's Janssen R&D (Belgium) with colon organoids. Put simply, they are replicas with some of the features of the organ they model and allow scientists to see how different cell types within a structure interact with one another. As a former swimmer, sports are key in my life. Besides, I like to spend my free time watching movies, traveling and going out with friends. For the football lovers, I am a Benfica fan!

My project : COLOTAN

The central aim of my Ph.D. project is to develop and in-depth characterize novel translational in vitro tools to model the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and, in particular, the colon, that can move from bench to bedside.

We are essentially focusing on colonic drug disposition, metabolism, safety and toxicity, with focus on reproducibility and scalability for pharmaceutical use.

Sabrina Rosoiu

ResearcherUniversity Politehnica of Bucharest

Field of research: Chemistry

Country: Romania

Mother tongue: Romanian

Other languages: English, Spanish

My biography

I’m an entusiastic researcher part of one of the most interesting MSCA projects, mCBEEs, that is dealing with corrosion around Europe. I’m a fellow at the Center for Surface Science and Nanotechnology-University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Romania. Regarding my background, I hold a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in chemistry with honours from University of Zaragoza, Spain. mCBEEs is an amazing network with interesting projects and I’m very excited to be part of it because it gives me the opportunity to do research in a relevant field such as electronics. My project focuses on the development and characterization of multifunctional coatings for electronic applications. 

My project : Advances integrative solutions to corrosion problems beyond micro-scale : towards long-term durability of miniaturized biomedical, electronic and energy systems

mCBEEs Innovative Training Network is a joint venture between academia and industry with a primary goal to train young researchers in the field of corrosion and corrosion protection of micro- and nanodevices. The network focuses on the study of corrosion processes in different environments and to develop multifunctional protective materials to increase the long-term durability of such components. Three main strategic fields where corrosion could seriously compromise the performance of micro- or nanodevices are: biotechnology, electronics and energy technology. Several disciplines converge to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the corrosion problem.