Dr. Maria Katsikogianni

Dr Maria Katsikogianni is an Assistant Professor in Biomaterials Chemistry since September 2018. Her research profile lies at the interface of biomaterial science, life sciences and engineering. She is particularly interested in the biomimetic design of multifunctional materials for relevant clinical applications, e.g. in the context of fabricating and testing non-fouling/antimicrobial materials to prevent medical device associated bone infections, through the incorporation of antimicrobial agents and/or the surface patterning at the nanoscale. Maria joined the University of Bradford in 2014 as a Research and Knowledge Transfer Officer in the Centre of Advanced Material Engineering, following her post-doctoral training within WELMEC, the centre of excellence in Medical Engineering at the University of Leeds. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the Surface Engineering Group, University College Dublin. She completed her undergraduate studies in Chemistry (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) and gained her PhD in Biomedical Engineering, under the supervision of Professor Yannis Missirlis (University of Patras, Greece), where she investigated the effect of material surface chemistry, morphology and flow conditions on bacterial adhesion. During her posts in Greece and Ireland, Maria successfully co-wrote two funding applications towards the “Development of a multidisciplinary scientific network for the investigation and application of biomaterials”, under an INTERREG IIIA Greece-Italy programme, and the “Application of antimicrobial natural product coatings on consumer products and medical packaging,” under an Enterprise Ireland commercialization fund, respectively. In the UK, Maria was shortlisted for a Sir Henry Dale Wellcome Trust/Royal Society Fellowship and was successful in securing funding from MeDe Innovation, in collaboration with Professor David Williams, Cardiff University, towards “The manufacture of medical device surfaces that are resistant to microbial colonisation”. Maria has authored 31 research papers and 3 book chapters (h-index: 17) along with a patent application (GB20120015171, W02014030005 A1)

Design of bio-inspired multifunctional materials with non-fouling/antimicrobial properties for a number of applications Surface chemical and topological modifications Surface engineering; patterning polymers at the nanoscale to control bacterial and cellular responses for medical device applications, in collaboration with the Centre for Polymer Micro and Nano Technology (Polymer MNT) Incorporation of antimicrobial compounds into polymers, using Green Chemistry and in particular extrusion, in collaboration with the Polymer IRC Material physicochemical and mechanical characterisation, in collaboration with the Centre for Chemical and Structural Analysis and the Polymer IRC Bacteria/cell material interactions and the biointerface using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy at the Polymer IRC Compounds and materials antimicrobial efficacy testing under conditions relevant to the application Structure-property relationships and material multifunctionality Translational research “Innovative manufacturing of composite materials with enhanced osteogenic and antibacterial properties”, EPSRC MeDe Innovation Dragons Den Award: (2017, PI), joint with Dr Karthik Nair, Polymer IRC, University of Bradford and Dr Martin Santocildes-Romero and Tomas Paterson University of Sheffield “Shape memory biodegradable sutures with antimicrobial properties”, EPSRC MeDe Innovation Dragons Den Award: (2017, co-I), joint with Dimitris Vgenopoulos (PI) and Dr Karthik Nair, and Dr Cristina Tuinea Bobe , Polymer IRC, University of Bradford, and Dr Bryan Stuart, University of Nottingham “The manufacture of medical device surfaces that are resistant to microbial colonisation”, EPSRC MeDe Innovation Fresh Ideas Fund (2016, PI), joint with Dr Ben Whiteside, Polymer MNT, University of Bradford and Professor David Williams, Cardiff University . Prof Stephen Rimmer – School of Chemistry and Biosciences, University of Bradford Dr Ben Whiteside – Centre of Polymer Micro and Nanotechnology, University of Bradford Prof David Wood – School of Dentistry, University of Leeds Prof David Williams – School of Dentistry, Cardiff University