Dr Ioakeim Ampartzidis

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Biochemistry, working in the Hollfelder lab. My research focuses on combining stem cells and microfluidic cell encapsulation platforms to investigate how human stem cells self-organise, with particular interest in components of the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway during early mammalian embryogenesis and the emergence of the body axis.

Prior to this, I held a postdoctoral position in the Elvassore lab at the University of Padova, within the Department of Industrial Engineering. There, I integrated 3D bioprinting with cardiac tissue engineering to generate heart-tube-like structures using tunable biomaterials. From 2020 to 2023, I completed my PhD at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, working jointly in the Galea and de Coppi labs. My doctoral research explored early human development, focusing on the role of PCP and extracellular matrix signals in neuroepithelial sheet formation. I used human pluripotent stem cell models derived from individuals with spina bifida to dissect the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neural tube defects.

I completed my MPhil in Biological Sciences at the University of Cambridge (2020), where I joined the Boroviak lab and the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research. There, I worked with non-human primate stem cells and 3D culture systems to study early primate embryogenesis in gel-based environments.