Dr. Christos Tapeinos received his bachelor degree in Material Science from the University of Patras in 2006. He got his MSc (2009) and his PhD. (2013) from the same university in Material Science in collaboration with the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” in the area of stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems. From 2015 to 2017 he worked at the National University of Ireland Galway as a Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow and he was part of the Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM) under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit. Dr. Tapeinos was also a visiting Researcher at the University of Chicago from October 2016 to January 2017 where he collaborated with Prof. J. Hubbell's group, studying the differentiation of human monocytes under oxidative stress and under treatment with collagen nanospheres.
His research interest is focused on delivery systems that respond to various stimuli, including pH, temperature, alternating magnetic field and reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, Dr. Tapeinos has fabricated a variety of biomaterial-based structures, including nanospheres, microspheres and fibers using natural (collagen & hyaluronic acid) and/or synthetic polymers (PMMA,PAA,PHPMA,PLGA) for the treatment of various diseases, like Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Myocardial Infarction and Cancer (breast, prostate and multiple myeloma). Moreover, he was involved in the synthesis and characterization of inorganic nanoparticles including MnO2, CeO2, CuO, ZnO etc. Dr. Tapeinos studies also the biological interactions of the synthesized materials in live cells and tissues.
Currently, Dr. Tapeinos works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology at the Smart Bio-Interfaces group under the supervision of Prof. Gianni Ciofani, where he focuses his research on the fabrication of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN) and Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC) for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme.
Christos Tapeinos, Matteo Battaglini, Gianni Ciofani, Advances in the design of solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers for targeting brain diseases. Journal of Controlled Release (7.786) (Accepted Manuscript), doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.08.033
Joëlle Bizeau, Christos Tapeinos, Abhay Pandit, Synthesis and characterization of hyaluronic acid-coated manganese dioxide microparticles that act as ROS scavengers. Colloids & Surfaces B: Biointerfaces (3.902) (Accepted Manuscript) (shared authorship)
Christos Tapeinos, Aitor Larrañaga, Jose-Ramon Sarasua, Abhay Pandit, Functionalised collagen spheres reduce H2O2 mediated apoptosis by scavenging overexpressed ROS. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine (5.671), DOI:10.1016/j.nano.2017.03.022
Christos Tapeinos, Eleni K. Efthimiadou, Nikos Boukos, George Kordas, Sustained release profile of quatro stimuli nanocontainers as a multi sensitive vehicle exploiting cancer characteristics. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces (3.902), DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.08.019
Christos Tapeinos and Abhay Pandit, Physical, chemical and biological structures based on ROS-sensitive moieties that are able to respond to oxidative microenvironments. Advanced Materials, 28, 5553–5585 (2016) (18.960), DOI: 10.1002/adma.201505376
Hongliang Cao, Yixiao Dong, Ligia Bre, Christos Tapeinos, Wenxin Wang and Abhay Pandit, An acetal-based polymeric crosslinker with controlled pH-sensitivity. RSC Advances (3.289), 2016, 6, 9604-9611. DOI: 10.1039/C6RA00423G
Efthimiadou E.K., Tapeinos C., Tziveleka L.-A., Boukos N., S, pH- and thermo-responsive microcontainers as potential drug delivery systems: Morphological characteristic, release and cytotoxicity studies. Materials Science and Engineering C (3.420) 37 (1), 271-277 (2014). DOI: 0.1016/j.msec.2014.01.024
Efthimiadou E.K., Tapeinos C., Chatzipavlidis A, Boukos N, Fragogeorgi E , Palamaris L, Loudos G., Kordas, G, Dynamic in vivo imaging of dual-triggered microspheres for sustained release applications: Synthesis, characterization and cytotoxicity study. International Journal of Pharmaceutics (3.65), 461 (1-2), 54-63 (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2013.11.037
Tapeinos C., Efthimiadou E. K., Boukos N., Charitidis C. A., Koklioti M., & Kordas G. Microspheres as therapeutic delivery agents: synthesis and biological evaluation of pH responsiveness. Journal of Materials Chemistry B (4.872), 1(2), 194 (2013). DOI: 10.1039/c2tb00013j
Kordas G., Tziveleka L., Efthimiadou E., Bilalis P., Chatzipavlidis A., Tapeinos C., Metaxa A.F., Pappas G. Tailoring nanostructured polymer containers for multi stimuli activated drug controlled release, Wound Repair and Regeneration 20(5):A99-A99 (2012). DOI: 10.1111/j.1524-475X.2012.00834.x
Efthimiadou E. K., Tapeinos C., Bilalis P., & Kordas G., New approach in synthesis, characterization and release study of pH-sensitive polymeric micelles, based on PLA-Lys-b-PEGm, conjugated with doxorubicin. Journal of Nanoparticle Research (2.101), 13(12), 6725–6736 (2011). DOI: 10.1007/s11051-011-0579-5
Efthimiadou E. K., Bilalis P., Kordas G, Chatzipavlidis A. and Tapeinos C. Smart Nanoparticles as new Drug Delivery Systems: Bioapplications. Planta Med 2011; 77 - PK19, DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282649
Tapeinos C., Kartsonakis I., Liatsi P, Daniilidis I, Kordas G, Synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanocontainers Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2.428), 91(4), 1052-1056 (2008). DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2007.02240.x
L’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) è una fondazione di diritto privato - cfr. determinazione Corte dei Conti 23/2015 “IIT è una fondazione da inquadrare fra gli organismi di diritto pubblico con la scelta di un modello di organizzazione di diritto privato per rispondere all’esigenza di assicurare procedure più snelle nella selezione non solo nell’ambito nazionale dei collaboratori, scienziati e ricercatori ”.
IIT è sotto la vigilanza del Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca e del Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze ed è stato istituito con la Legge 326/2003. La Fondazione ha l'obiettivo di promuovere l'eccellenza nella ricerca di base e in quella applicata e di favorire lo sviluppo del sistema economico nazionale. La costruzione dei laboratori iniziata nel 2006 si è conclusa nel 2009.
Lo staff complessivo di IIT conta circa 1440 persone. L’area scientifica è rappresentata da circa l’85% del personale. Il 45% dei ricercatori proviene dall’estero: di questi, il 29% è costituito da stranieri provenienti da oltre 50 Paesi e il 16% da italiani rientrati. Oggi il personale scientifico è composto da circa 60 principal investigators, circa 110 ricercatori e tecnologi di staff, circa 350 post doc, circa 500 studenti di dottorato e borsisti, circa 130 tecnici. Oltre 330 posti su 1400 creati su fondi esterni. Età media 34 anni. 41% donne / 59 % uomini.
Nel 2015 IIT ha ricevuto finanziamenti pubblici per circa 96 milioni di euro (80% del budget), conseguendo fondi esterni per 22 milioni di euro (20% budget) provenienti da 18 progetti europei, 17 finanziamenti da istituzioni nazionali e internazionali, circa 60 progetti industriali
La produzione di IIT ad oggi vanta circa 6990 pubblicazioni, oltre 130 finanziamenti Europei e 11 ERC, più di 350 domande di brevetto attive, oltre 12 start up costituite e altrettante in fase di lancio. Dal 2009 l’attività scientifica è stata ulteriormente rafforzata con la creazione di dieci centri di ricerca nel territorio nazionale (a Torino, Milano, Trento, Parma, Roma, Pisa, Napoli, Lecce, Ferrara) e internazionale (MIT ed Harvard negli USA) che, unitamente al Laboratorio Centrale di Genova, sviluppano i programmi di ricerca del piano scientifico 2015-2017.
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is a public research institute that adopts the organizational model of a private law foundation. IIT is overseen by Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca and Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze (the Italian Ministries of Education, Economy and Finance). The Institute was set up according to Italian law 326/2003 with the objective of promoting excellence in basic and applied research andfostering Italy’s economic development. Construction of the Laboratories started in 2006 and finished in 2009.
IIT has an overall staff of about 1,440 people. The scientific staff covers about 85% of the total. Out of 45% of researchers coming from abroad 29% are foreigners coming from more than 50 countries and 16% are returned Italians. The scientific staff currently consists of approximately 60 Principal Investigators, 110 researchers and technologists, 350 post-docs and 500 PhD students and grant holders and 130 technicians. External funding has allowed the creation of more than 330 positions . The average age is 34 and the gender balance proportion is 41% female against 59% male.
In 2015 IIT received 96 million euros in public funding (accounting for 80% of its budget) and obtained 22 million euros in external funding (accounting for 20% of its budget). External funding comes from 18 European Projects, other 17 national and international competitive projects and approximately 60 industrial projects.
So far IIT accounts for: about 6990 publications, more than 130 European grants and 11 ERC grants, more than 350 patents or patent applications, 12 up start-ups and as many which are about to be launched. The Institute’s scientific activity has been further strengthened since 2009 with the establishment of 11 research nodes throughout Italy (Torino, Milano, Trento, Parma, Roma, Pisa, Napoli, Lecce, Ferrara) and abroad (MIT and Harvard University, USA), which, along with the Genoa-based Central Lab, implement the research programs included in the 2015-2017 Strategic Plan.
