The research team of BIO-CONTEXT consists of three postdoctoral researchers.
Dr Katerina Vlantoni is the Principal Investigator of BIO-CONTEXT. In the project, she will collaborate with the two postdoctoral researchers to undertake primary research and integrate research findings in the three research strands (histories, practices and discourses). Exploiting her research experience in studying tissue biobanking, she will lead the synthesis of the research to understanding broader shifts in biomedical research and the development of biomedical technologies.
Katarina Vlantoni was appointed Assistant Professor of History of Biomedical Science and Technology in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in December 2023. She has received PhD (2016) and BSc (2005) degrees from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and a MA degree (2006, with distinction) in Science and Technology Studies from Maastricht University (European Program on Society, Science and Technology-ESST). Her doctoral research focused on the introduction and use of genetic technologies in blood screening, in the field of blood-banking and transfusion medicine. She specializes in the historical and STS study of medical/biomedical science and technology. She is adjunct faculty at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of West Attica, and, at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has participated in a variety of international and national research projects and academic activities that include: the EU Horizon 2020 research project InsSciDE: Inventing a shared Science Diplomacy for Europe (2018-2022); the research project “The public debates on cord blood bio-banks in Greece: approaches from the interdisciplinary field Science, Technology, Society” (funded by Onassis Foundation, 10/2016-09/2018); the EU HORIZON 2020 project HoNESt: History of Nuclear Energy and Society. Her work has also been supported by individual research fellowships
Dr Yulie Foka-Kavalieraki is a postdoctoral researcher. She will contribute to the research on the histories and the mapping of biobanks (WP3). Foka-Kavalieraki will build on her interdisciplinary interest on studying biotechnologies in the context of bioeconomic developments, extending her work from her recent IKY fellowship by paying attention to its economic and social attributes of biobanks. Her interest in biological science (she is currently attending an undergraduate program in biology) will contribute decisively in placing biobanking activities in the context of current research in biology, biotechnology and the life sciences.
Foka-Kavalieraki has a PhD (with honors, 2016) in the Philosophy of Social Sciences from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The title of her dissertation (written in English) is “Consent as a Rational Choice: Philosophical, Institutional and Empirical Approaches”. For her doctoral research, she received the Heraclitus II European scholarship program. After the completion of her PhD she conducted a postdoctoral research in the field of bioeconomy at the National Technical University of Athens with a scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation-Siemens program, studying the socioeconomic impact of the applications of biotechnology in Greece and other southeastern Mediterranean countries. She has a MSc in Cognitive Sciences from the University of Athens where she completed her master’s dissertation (with honors) at the A´ Neurological Clinic of Eginition Hospital, working in the fields of neuropsychology and neurolinguistics. She currently studies Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and she holds a BA in English Studies from the same University.
Her areas of expertise are bioethics, bioeconomy, decision making and risk analysis, economic psychology, behavioral economics, political philosophy and philosophy of social sciences. Through her postgraduate years, she has been a research assistant for the European Network for Better Regulation, for ASPIDDA, a major EU funded research program for human trafficking, and for various research programs in cognitive and developmental psychology. She has been teaching a graduate course in behavioral economics and decision-making at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Athens (2010-2020) and she also teaches economic psychology at the e-learning program of the University of Athens.
Dr Giorgos Zoukas is a postdoctoral researcher who will analyse how biobanking and bioeconomy have been discussed and debated publicly within the Greek context. His research will include the examination of empirical data from different types of media sources (both print and online). He will also be responsible for the BIO-CONTEXT website.
Giorgos Zoukas has a PhD in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies (University of Edinburgh, UK, 2019), an MA in Society, Science and Technology (Maastricht University, The Netherlands, 2012), an MSc in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (NKUA/NTUA, Greece, 2012), and a BSc in History and Philosophy of Science (NKUA, 2010). His research interests include the sociology and history of social media and the internet, the communication and public image of science and technology, and the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Edinburgh and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, while currently he teaches a course on the History of Technology at the University of West Attica. He also was the co-runner of the Edinburgh University Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Network, a network that brought together colleagues from different Schools and disciplines with a shared interest and involvement in Citizen Science, the Crowdsourcing of Data & Evidence, and public participation in scientific, medical, humanities and policy research.
