Attributions

Οur team first appeared on the scene in February 2023, when 14 individuals from different scientific backgrounds decided to join forces. The common denominator for all of them was and still is their dedication, their focus, their willingness and their need to contribute to society as a whole. Without the help of everyone inside and outside the team, the dream of participating in the iGEM Competition 2023 would never come true. We would like to thank our PIs for their perseverance and motivation, our Advisors and our Instructor, who supported us on the journey of DeltaSense. After 10 demanding months full of experiences, we hope you are as proud of the result as we are.

Team

Mrs. Zacharia Aikaterini Eirini

Aikaterini Eirini, as a 5th year undergraduate student of Biology at the University of Crete, is one of the Team Leaders and Wet Lab members of Team UniCRETE 2023. Alongside Mrs Chatzichrysou (the co-leader), her contribution was centered in the coordinating and planning of the operations of the entire team. Involved in the wet lab, she was responsible for the brainstorming sessions, the observation of the project’s development and organization of the experimental design. As the project progressed, she involved herself more in the rest of the subgroups by assisting in the promotion of DeltaSense and its presentation to specialists and potential sponsors, as one of the main speakers in numerous events. As a member of Team Crete 2022, her pre-existing competition experience allowed her to engage in the writing of specific parts of the wiki.

Mrs. Chatzichrysou Christina

Christina Chatzichrysou is a senior biology student who stood as a co-leader alongside Mrs Zacharia within the uniCRETE team. As the Head of Human Practices, Christina coordinated her teammates' efforts, planned and facilitated meetings and managed tasks to ensure seamless collaboration. She held brainstorming sessions and engaged with various organizations, demonstrating commitment to the community-focused views of the project. She also contributed to the design of our 3D-printed braille tube holder.

Mr. Antoniadis Dimitrios Panagiotis

Dimitrios Panagiotis is an undergraduate student of Biology at the University of Crete. It is his first time participating in the iGEM Competition and he was involved in our team’s Wet Lab. Through numerous hours of brainstorming, literature research and conversations with experts in our field of interest he assisted in the creation of Deltasense. Alongside Mrs Panagiotaki, he designed the protocols that the team followed while conducting the experiments, which proved to be very challenging regarding the novelty of the detection system. His contribution to the team is not limited to the laboratory as he has participated in many team activities concerning the spread of the project such as the educational event at the Museum of Natural History, titled 'Exploring the Cell'.

Mrs. Panagiotaki Emmanouela

Emmanouela is an undergraduate student of Biology at the University of Crete and integral member of the Wet Lab team, with a specific role and responsibility for ensuring safety protocols are rigorously upheld. She has engaged in collaborative efforts with fellow laboratory members, participating in extensive discussions with esteemed professors to enhance the quality of our ongoing project. Emmanouela has been actively participating in all experiments conducted on the QCM sensor under the guidance of our instructor, Dimitra, and alongside Mr. Antoniadis designed the protocols that the team followed while conducting the experiments. Additionally, she has completed safety forms, contributed to the composition of informative wiki texts and actively participated in off-campus activities.

Mr. Tzaveas Panagiotis

Panagiotis, a 4th-year undergraduate student at the Medicine Department of the University of Crete, served as Wet Lab member in our team. He collaborated with Mrs. Bikaki in crafting the distinctive logo for our project, "Deltasense," which has since become a notable emblem for our team. Panagiotis took part in comprehensive discussions with professors and Ph.D. scholars, providing insights for the docking aspect of our project in partnership with Mrs. Tomza. Additionally, he adeptly created detailed 3D models of our aptamers.

Mrs. Tomza Christina

Christina, an undergraduate student at the Chemistry Department of the University of Crete, was a member of the team’s Wet Lab with main role the participation in collaborative meetings with professors, Ph.D. scholars, and MSc. students. She took part in the process of determining the docking aspect of our project alongside Mr. Tzaveas. Additionally, she facilitated connections within her department to secure the necessary expertise for the enzyme component. What is more, Christina aided in the spread of the project by attending activities designed by Human Practices subgroup.

Mrs. Papoulia Antonia Kleopatra

Antonia Kleopatra, a 4th-year Biology student at the University of Crete, was involved in the team’s Human Practices, taking part in brainstorming and project developing. Antonia also took charge of our Social Media, shared our work with the world and built connections with iGEM teams globally. Furthermore, she alongside Mrs. Zacharia, crafted scripts for our promotion video and added her voice to our team's blog, "SynBioCrete Chronicles". Last but not least, Antonia worked on inclusivity initiatives, both online and in-person and highlighted her commitment to our shared success by contributing to the organization and presentation of “Deltasense” at the Researchers' Night event.

Mrs.Tekossi Alexandra

Alexandra, a 4th year Biology undergraduate, served as our team’s Head of Fundraising and member of the Human Practices. Her competence includes the crafting of outreach materials, development of the fundraising booklet and assurance of effective communication with Mrs. Tyrou. Alexandra also narrated the project’s promotion video and was in charge of the linguistic control of our published documents.Her involvement in several Human Practices events encompassed organizing a Bioethics open group discussion, where she curated esteemed participants and referenced appropriate bibliography, and taking the initiative to design and manage an evaluation form for the educational event 'Exploring the Cell,' where she also served as a presenter. Lastly, she wrote sections of the wiki.

Mr. Etsiroglou Efthimios

Efthimios, an undergraduate student at the Computer Science Department of the University of Crete, was in charge of our project's digital endeavors, as the Head of Dry Lab. Specifically, he was responsible for crafting and maintaining our iGEM uniCRETE wiki page in collaboration with Mr. Lefakis. Furthermore, Efthimios contributed to the design of our team's logo and initiated the development of our official website, which served as a platform for connecting with supporting companies.

Mr Lefakis Nikolaos

Also Nikolaos, an undergraduate student in the Department of Computer Science, is an integral member of the Dry Lab alongside Mr. Etsiroglou, who spearheaded the creation of our wiki page. He took part in the enhancement of our team's official website, enabling outreach to potential implementing partners and preparing for the project's presentation in Paris. Additionally, Nikos contributed to documenting the team's various events through photography.

Mrs. Bikaki Sofia

Sofia, a second-year biology student at the University of Crete, was a member of the Dry Lab team. Her primary responsibility was graphic design, which included the creation of our project logo in collaboration with Mr. Tzaveas. She also illustrated a children's book about our project, "Deltasense," and provided various designs for team materials. Additionally, Sofia actively contributed to our Human Practices initiatives, collaborating with Mrs. Papoulia on projects with other iGEM teams worldwide.

Mrs. Tyrou Olga

Olga, a 4th year medical student in the University Of Crete, joined the team as a member of both the Fundraising and the Human Practices team, fulfilling a plethora of duties. In fundraising, she – in cooperation with Mrs Tekossi- was responsible for extensive research of possible sponsors as well as filling in the communication gap between sponsors and the Economics Department of the University. As for human practices, Olga composed an article about Bioethics in Research – published in the team’s blog-, coordinated an open discussion in the context of exploiting the environment to serve humanity and partook in an educational group event at the Museum of Natural History. It should also be mentioned that Olga is the author of a booklet on the matter of Synthetic Biology which targets school students.

Mrs. Filippidi Emmanouela

Mrs. Filippidi Emmanouela has joined the Department of Materials Science and Technology at the University of Crete as an Assistant Professor. As she received her B.S. in Engineering with a focus in Biomedical Engineering from Harvard University (2005), she knew about the existence of the iGEM competition from its beginnings. From the first moment, she showed not only confidence in the vision of our team to participate in it but also her willingness to help with all the bureaucratic parts of the competition. Ηaving constant weekly communication with the team members, she guided them in a scientific and “human practices” level, by proposing important improvements and advice in troubleshooting alongside Prof. Gizeli. Furthermore, she helped the team with lab training and offered lab supplies and reagents as far as lab space and equipment for the experiments. Her contribution was vital in the proposal of potential sponsors and the successful completion of the safety form.

Mr. Ntimtsas Angelos

Angelos is a Research assistant at the Gizeli’s lab. He helped us with the analysis program as well as with some technical issues that arose.

Mr. Papadopoulos Christos

Christos is a Master’s student in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Crete that spent a lot of time and energy to help us during one of the most important parts of our experiments. He helped us run a docking analysis for aptamer’s section and guided us in a practical and theoretical way to make the most suitable decision in order for our project to succeed. He was eager to help us every time that we were in his office and every time Christina Tomza sent him messages after midnight.

Mr. Tsiotos Leandros

Leandros is an iGEM Alumni that offered us extremely helpful advice, support and feedback on the entirety of our project.

Mr. Michailidis Dimitris

Mr. Michailidis Dimitris for his willingness to solve all our questions during our preparation to the competition.

Dry Lab Support

Mrs. Gjonaj Marina

Marina, a talented graduate of photography school with a passion for filmmaking, has played an indispensable role in our iGEM journey. Her creative vision was showcased brilliantly as she assumed the roles of director and editor for both our iGEM uniCRETE promotional video and our Team Presentation Video. Marina's dedication and expertise allowed our team's hard work to shine brightly.

Mr. Kousis Tsampazis Georgios

Georgios, a Biology undergraduate, contributed by designing graphics for our Fundraising booklet, adding a visual dimension to our efforts and serving as the sound engineer for our promotion video, ensuring its quality and impact.

Mr. Chatzichrysos Isidoros

Isidoros, as an undergraduate student at the Computer Science Department of the University of Crete, who was a member of Dry Lab for the Team Crete 2022, provided his mentorship and his assistance regarding the design development of our wiki (animations).

Finance Support

Mrs. Tasseli Kiki

Deputy Head of the Support & Project Monitoring Department, was responsible for carrying out the administrative aspect of the sponsorships and filling out the necessary forms to ensure the legality of iGEMUniCrete.

Human Practices Support

The Crete Blind Association who hosted us in their space and shared their concerns about the inclusivity of disabled people in knowledge, research and STEM.

The Centre of Greek Sign Language who provided us with the most commonly used words in a biology lab in sign language.

The Association of Organic Farmers Markets in Crete who kindly distributed our questionnaires to their organic market customers.

The Natural History Museum of Crete who warmly hosted us to hold our event for the children “Exploring the Cell”.

The Crete University Press who printed our children's books titled “The Farmer of the Green Olive Grove: Adventures in Organic Farming and Biotechnology”.

Researcher’s Night and Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas who included our team in the biggest celebration for research and innovation in Europe.

Mr. Manolis Polychronides who shared his view as a political scientist in our open discussion.

Dr Panagiotis Moschou who provided a scientific background in our open discussion as a molecular plant professor.

Mr. Kalafatas, a Chemistry undergraduate who took part in our open discussion.

Mr. Tsarikoglou, a Chemical Engineering undergraduate who took part in our open discussion.