Ilias Kounatidis
About Ilias Kounatidis
Ilias Kounatidis is a Beamline Scientist based in Oxfordshire, England, with expertise in microbiology and host-pathogen interactions. He has a strong academic background, holding a Ph.D. in Microbiology and a Master's in Education, and currently serves as an External Scientific Expert at the European Food Safety Authority.
Work at Diamond Light Source
Ilias Kounatidis has been serving as a Beamline Scientist since 2019 at Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, England. In this role, he focuses on developing and applying advanced correlative microscopy workflows, which include soft X-ray tomography and electron microscopy combined with super-resolution microscopy. His work primarily investigates host-pathogen interactions, contributing to the understanding of human pathogenic bacterial and fungal microorganisms.
Education and Expertise
Ilias Kounatidis holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Aristoteleion Panepistimion Thessalonikis, which he completed from 2000 to 2005. He further pursued a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Microbiology and Genetics at the same institution from 2005 to 2010. Additionally, he has a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education from Oxford Brookes University, obtained from 2016 to 2017, and a Master in Education focusing on Leadership and Management from the same university, completed from 2018 to 2020.
Background
Before his current role, Ilias Kounatidis worked as a Senior Research Associate in Cryo X-ray Tomography within the Life Sciences field from 2018 to 2019. He has also held positions as a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow and Lab Manager in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Oxford from 2013 to 2018, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow from 2010 to 2013. His experience includes a brief role as a Digital Outreach Project Assistant in 2017.
Achievements
Ilias Kounatidis serves as an Academic Visitor at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and has been contributing as an External Scientific Expert at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) since 2021. His work encompasses topics such as microbiology, immunity, and microbiota, focusing on the interactions between human pathogenic microorganisms and their hosts.