About me

Hi! I’m Nikolas and I come from Thessaloniki, Greece. I did my BSc in Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffied (2020 class) followed by an MSc in Translational neuropathology (also in Sheffield – 2021 class). I then worked at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience for nearly 3 years as a research technician. Specifically, I utilised in vitro differentiation methods to study brain conditions including Multiple Schlerosis and Parkinson’s Disease.

Having grown a crush for developmental biology from my undergraduate years, I decided to pursue a PhD in it as well! I was especially interested in this particular project for the mathematical modelling approaches we’ll be taking to answer our questions. Having zero experience in mathematical modelling, I knew this project would be perfect for me to expand interdisciplinarily, something super important for everyone.

My Project

Currently I’m working on understanding better the role of Notch signalling in a super important embryonic cell population known as Neuromesodermal Progenitors or NMPs. NMPs contribute biomass to the posterior (tail-ways) portion of an embryo and give rise to the nervous system and mesodermal derivatives such as muscles and bones! By the end of this project I hope to have grown comfortable with using mathematical / computational modelling approaches to answer biological questions and of course I hope to have gained more insight on how Notch signalling regulates the NMP ontogeny and its differentiation into downstream derivatives.

Connect

Bluesky: @nikolasstefanidis.bsky.social