Anastasia Tsitsimeli
DC4
What excites me most about BioTransform is the opportunity to connect chemistry, biology and human health by investigating how food bioactives are transformed in the human body and how this may influence their biological effects. My academic background began in chemistry and gradually expanded towards the study of biochemical processes, biological variation and cellular responses. My doctoral project brings these interests together by investigating how olive biophenols are transformed in the human body, why their metabolism varies between individuals and populations, and how these differences may influence their biological effects and potential health benefits.
DC4: Exploration of metabolism pathways of olive biophenols using UPLC-HRMS/MS profiling and metabolomics approaches
Supervisor: Prof. Maria Halabalaki
Co-Supervisors: Dr. Isabel Garcia-Perez (ICL), Mrs. Anna Ramata-Stunda (Alternative Plants)
Secondments: This project is carried out in strong collaboration with the following groups, and visits to their laboratories are expected during the project:
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Pharmacology, Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Riga, Latvia
- Alternative Plants, Riga, Latvia
Project description
My doctoral project focuses on mapping the human metabolism of olive biophenols and identifying the metabolites formed after their consumption. Plasma, urine and faecal samples collected during the BioTransform human studies will be analysed using UPLC-HRMS/MS-based untargeted metabolomics, while the resulting data will be considered alongside NMR-based urinary metabolomic profiles generated within the network.
Metabolite annotation and statistical analysis will be used to explore biotransformation pathways, identify potential biomarkers and compare metabolic profiles between healthy/normal-weight and prediabetic/obese participants, as well as between South- and Central-European populations.
Professional background
I am Anastasia Tsitsimeli, a chemist from, Greece, and a doctoral candidate in the BioTransform Doctoral Network at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
I completed my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. During my undergraduate research in clinical chemistry, I investigated hair cortisol as a potential biomarker of chronic stress. This project introduced me to biomarker research, biological variability and the interpretation of analytical data in relation to human physiology and health.
I later completed an MSc in Molecular Sciences, specialising in Medicinal Chemistry, at Radboud University in the Netherlands. In my first master’s research project, I investigated artificial enzymatic reaction networks, focusing on the behaviour of interconnected biochemical processes. In my second project, I studied cellular plasticity and responses to targeted treatments in lung-cancer cells. These projects allowed me to explore molecular transformations in both biochemical and cellular systems.
Together, these experiences strengthened my interest in understanding how chemical processes influence complex biological responses and provided a strong foundation for my doctoral project.