Zoe Pikramenou

Zoe Pikramenou is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Photophysics at the University of Birmingham, where she is the first female professor in the chemistry department.[1]

Research

Pikramenou is an engineer specialising in nanotechnology and photophysics. Recent research has investigated how gold nanorods could be applied to treat cancerous cells in the body.[2] This research is in partnership with the Canadian company Sona Nanotech Inc.[3] Pikramenou has researched other applications of gold nanoparticles, including their use in tracking blood flow in capillary networks.[4] She was part of a team that developed iridium-coated gold nanoparticles, significant because they have a longer lifetime of use.[5] She has co-investigated platelet nodules, using microscopy.[6]

Another medical application of Pikramenou's nanoparticle research includes the application of coated silica particles to treat sensitive teeth.[7] As part of her doctoral research at Michigan State University, Pikramenou invented a nanoparticle bucket, which lights up when in contains a particular compound.[8] This kind of microscopic bucket is described as a supramolecule.[8]

Coated nanoparticles patent

In 2017, Pikramenou and her co-researcher Nicola J Rogers, were granted a patent to protect their invention of a new process of combining at least one metal complex and a surfactant.[9]

Career

Pikramenou graduated in 1993 from Michigan State University with a PhD in Chemistry, following a BA in Chemistry from the University of Athens in 1987.[10] Her post-doctoral fellowship was at the University of Strasbourg, working with Jean-Marie Lehn.[10] She became a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, then was appointed to the University of Birmingham in 2000.[10]

Awards
  • 2012 - Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship[11]
  • 2007 - EPSRC Discipline Hopping Award with Chemical Engineering[12]
  • 2000 - The Aventis Scientia Europea Prize, Aventis Foundation and French Academy of Sciences for collaborative work with Physicist and Biologist[13]

References
  1. "Student-led careers event focuses on women in science". www.iop.org. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. "Nano-tech experts begin cancer research". BusinessCloud.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  3. "Birmingham and Canadian nano-tech experts begin advanced cancer research – Birmingham Health Partners". www.birminghamhealthpartners.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  4. "Gold 'nanoprobes' used to track blood flow in tiny vessels". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  5. King, Siobhan M.; Claire, Sunil; Teixeira, Rodolfo I.; Dosumu, Abiola N.; Carrod, Andrew J.; Dehghani, Hamid; Hannon, Michael J.; Ward, Andrew D.; Bicknell, Roy; Botchway, Stanley W.; Hodges, Nikolas J. (2018-08-15). "Iridium Nanoparticles for Multichannel Luminescence Lifetime Imaging, Mapping Localization in Live Cancer Cells". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 140 (32): 10242–10249. doi:10.1021/jacs.8b05105. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 30032598.
  6. Poulter, Natalie S.; Pollitt, Alice Y.; Davies, Amy; Malinova, Dessislava; Nash, Gerard B.; Hannon, Mike J.; Pikramenou, Zoe; Rappoport, Joshua Z.; Hartwig, John H.; Owen, Dylan M.; Thrasher, Adrian J. (2015). "Platelet actin nodules are podosome-like structures dependent on Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein and ARP2/3 complex". Nature Communications. 6 (1): 7254. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.7254P. doi:10.1038/ncomms8254. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4458878. PMID 26028144.
  7. "Tiny silica particles could be used to repair damaged teeth, research shows". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  8. Nocera, Dan (1996). "Not Just a Pretty Shape". institutions.newscientist.com. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  9. , "Coated nanoparticles", issued 2012-06-28
  10. "Dr Zoe Pikramenou, Chemistry - University of Birmingham". www.birmingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  11. "Research Fellowships 2012 | The Leverhulme Trust". www.leverhulme.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  12. EPSRC. "Grants on the web". gow.epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  13. "- University of Birmingham research gateway". research.birmingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
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