Dr Eirini Theodosiou
Senior Lecturer, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry | Aston University
Birmingham, UNITED KINGDOM
Dr Theodosiou's main expertise is in the development of technologies for the isolation of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs).
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Biography
Dr Theodosiou is an experienced biochemical engineer who has been leading industrial and academic research teams for more than 15 years.
Her main expertise is in the development of technologies for the isolation of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), as well as the design of new and improved support materials for efficient growth and differentiation of stem cells for tissue engineering and cultivated meat applications.
She has a long track record in authoring research outputs and disseminating findings related to biopharmaceutical process development and holds 1 patent.
She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Biochemical Engineering
Biopharmaceutical Process Development
Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs)
Bioprocessing Tools
Stem Cell Biology
Education (3)
DTU - Technical University of Denmark: PhD, Biotechnology
Ethniko Metsovio Polytechnico: MEng, Chemical Engineering
University of London: MSc, Biochemical Engineering
Affiliations (1)
- Member of the University Senate
Links (3)
Media Appearances (1)
Cultivated meat: The food of the future?
Aston Originals online
2022-09-01
Professor Claire Farrow and Dr Eirini Theodosiou, from Aston University, discuss their latest research around the subject: Cultivated meat: The food of the future?
Articles (3)
Poly (butylene succinate) fibrous dressings containing natural antimicrobial agents
Journal of Industrial Textiles2022 Poly(butylene succinate) (PBSU) is a biodegradable and biocompatible synthetic aliphatic polyester, which has been used extensively in packaging, catering and agriculture, and more recently in drug delivery and bone and cartilage repair. PBSU-based mats created by electrospinning show promise as wound dressing materials because of their good mechanical properties, high surface area-to-volume ratio and increased levels of porosity. In this work, we present the creation of antimicrobial PBSU fibrous mats through the incorporation of natural food grade agents via blend electrospinning. Three types of edible gums (namely arabic, karaya and tragacanth), two essential oils (coriander and lavender), and one free fatty acid (linoleic acid) were added to PBSU containing a chain extender and their effect on six clinically relevant pathogens was evaluated. Mats containing essential oils at the highest concentration studied (7% w/v) showed some antimicrobial behaviour against S. aureus, E. hirae and P. aeruginosa, whereas the incorporation of linoleic acid at both concentrations tested (3% and 5% w/v) gave a strong reaction against S. pyogenes. Gum arabic was the only gum that had a considerable impact on S. aureus. Furthermore, the three gums enhanced the mechanical properties of the polymer mats and brought them closer to those of the human skin, whilst all agents maintained the high biocompatibility of the PBSU mats when contacted with mouse fibroblasts. This work, for the first time, shows the great promise of PBSU blended fibres as a skin substitute and paves the way towards bioactive and cost effective wound dressings from renewable materials.
Chemically cross‐linked poly (vinyl alcohol) electrospun fibrous mats as wound dressing materials
Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology2022 BACKGROUND Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a synthetic biocompatible polymer that is extensively used by the medical and pharmaceutical industries due to its FDA approval for in vivo applications. Its highly hydrophilic nature makes it an ideal wound dressing material, especially in the form of nanofibrous mats. RESULTS In this work, electrospun PVA-based scaffolds suitable for wound management were created. Chemical cross-linking with citric acid and glyoxal was employed to enhance the supports’ stability in aqueous environments, and cellulose nanocrystals were added during the electrospinning process to improve the mechanical properties of the final constructs. Varying the concentrations of the cross-linking agents (0.12-1 wt% citric acid and 0.06-0.5 wt% glyoxal), allowed the control of the rate and extend of dissolution, thereby tuning the properties of the materials to the specific wound types (e.g. acute vs chronic). There was an inverse relationship between the amount of cross-linkers used and the mats’ weight loss (ranging from 2% to 18%) after 6 days immersion in water. All supports sustained the growth of human fibroblasts (>85% viability), whereas there was no biofilm formation when in contact with S. aureus for 24 hours. The presence of cellulose nanocrystals did not affect cytocompatibility but improved the mechanical properties of the non-woven fibres. CONCLUSION Tailor-made biocompatible electrospun mats showing antimicrobial behaviour were successfully created through altering the concentration of chemical cross-linkers. This flexible approach offers the potential of matching the dressing to the wound type and offering a more targeted solution to wound management.
Novel Microcarriers for the Scalable Production on Cultivated Meat
Cultivate2022 Project Aims •Screen and characterise suitable edible biomaterials & engineer scaffolds •Culture, expand and differentiate bovine mesenchymal stem cells in static conditions •Engineer microcarriers from scaffolds and scale up the process to bioreactors •Improve consumer acceptance for cultivated meats •Provide standards for the textural properties of cultivated beef burgers Conclusions •Silk fibroin scaffolds were created using electrospinning. •MeOH treatment affected fibre morphology, strength and protein secondary structure •Silk fibroin scaffolds supported bMSC growth •Early work on mechanical properties of beef burgers identified desirable textural properties for cultivated meats
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