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Post Doctoral Research Associates
Argiro Kalogeropoulou
Argiro graduated from the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at University of Thessaly, Greece, in 2011. She completed her MSc in Biomedicine at Uppsala University, Sweden, where she focused on the study of neuropeptides that regulate food consumption and metabolism. Currently, she is working as a postdoc in Prof. Taraviras' group, where she completed her PhD, and she investigates the molecular mechanisms that underlie the differentiation of neural stem cells towards cortical neurons. Specifically, she focuses on the role of Geminin, a negative regulator of DNA replication, during early- and mid- neurogenesis. Towards that direction Argiro works with mouse animal models, as well as with in vitro systems like primary cultures of neural stem cells. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Doctoral Students
Konstantina Kaplani
Konstantina graduated from the University of Patras with a Bachelor in Biology in 2015. During the last year of her undergraduate studies, she joined Professor Taraviras’ research team and worked on the role of Geminin in the differentiation of neural stem cells of the subventricular zone (SVZ) niche of the adult rodent brain. She was then enrolled in the two-year postgraduate program "Biomedical Sciences" offered by the Medical School of the University of Patras. In this program, she specialized in the field of Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine, while her thesis focused on the characterization of an in vitro differentiation system of neural stem cells towards the ependymal cell lineage. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in Prof. Taraviras’ group working on the role of GemC1/Lynkeas in the cell fate commitment of neural progenitors of the brain. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Georgia Lokka
Georgia graduated in 2017 from a 5-year Integrated Master's Degree Program in the department of Biological Applications and Technology, University of Ioannina, Greece. Her diploma thesis was conducted in Prof. Taravira’s laboratory,studying the differentiation of neural stem cells towards ependymal cells, using an in vitro system. Subsequently, she attended the Postgraduate Course in Biomedical Sciences of the Medical Department at the University of Patras, Greece. She was specialized in the field of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine and her research was focused on the effect of GemC1 absence in the neurogenic potential of radial glial cells in the subventricular zone. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof.Taraviras, aiming to investigate the role of McIdas in ependymal cell differentiation. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Maria Mougkogianni
Maria obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from the Department of Pharmacy of University of Patras in 2017 where she carried out her diploma thesis in the laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology of the aforementioned Department. Afterwards, Maria pursued her Master’s degree in the postgraduate study programme “Biomedical Sciences” of the Medical School of the same University specializing in the field of “Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine”. She conducted her thesis regarding the regulation of DNA replication licensing of neural stem cells during early and mid corticogenesisin the lab of Prof. Stavros Taraviras. Currently, she is studying the role of inflammation signaling triggered by genomic instability in colon cancer progression in the context of her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Stavros Taraviras. -Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
MSc Students
Napoleon graduated from the University of Patras with a Bachelor in Biology in 2020. After his undergraduate studies, he joined Professor Taraviras’ research team and worked on investigating the progenitors of Bicilliated ependymal cells in the adult murine brain. This work took place during a two-year postgraduate program named "Biomedical Sciences" offered by the Medical School of the University of Patras. In this program, wich is still in progress he mastered a lot of different techniques and scientific approaches in the field of Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine, in wich the laboratory is specialized in. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Stella Vassalou
Stella 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. Currently she is enrolled in the Master program of "Biomedical Sciences" at the Medical School of University of Patras. She is carrying out her Master thesis in the Stem Cell Laboratory of the Physiology Department under the supervision of Dr Taraviras. She is studying signalling alterations influencing ependymal cell generation in a hydrocephalus mouse model and aims to study the reprogramming of embryonic Stem Cells into the ependymal cell lineage. You can contact her at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Anna Bibli
Anna graduated from the Department of Biology in the University of Patras in 2021. During the last year of her undergraduate studies she conducted her thesis in Dr. Taraviras' lab, where she studied "The role of GemC1 in the development of the murine diencephalon during embryogenesis". She has currently enrolled in the Postgraduate Study Program "Biomedical Sciences", in the Department of Medicine of the University of Patras, where she specializes in the field of "Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine". Her thesis investigates "The role of GemC1 in the developing murine hippocampus. Υou can contact her at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thomai Samouilidou
Thomai graduated from the Department of Biological Applications and Technology at University of Ioannina. She conducted her Diploma thesis investigating “The role of CDT1 overexpression in the cell cycle of THP-1, a cell line model of Acute Myeloid Leukemia”, in Stem Cell Laboratory at University of Patras, under the supervision of Dr. Dimitris Karamitros. Currently, she is a Master's Degree student, specializing in the field of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, while investigating “The role of genomic instability in Cancer Stem Cell properties and inflammation signaling in colon cancer cell lines”, under the supervision of Dr. Stavros Taraviras.Undergraduate Students
Ioanna Papadionysiou
Ioanna is currently an undergraduate student in the Department of Biology at the University of Patras. She is carrying out her diploma thesis in Stem cell Laboratory at the Medical School of the University of Patras, since she is interested in this research field. Contact her at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
