Ioannis-Alexandros Gampierakis

About Ioannis-Alexandros Gampierakis

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Pfizer, where I apply my Ph.D. in Neuroimmunology and Neurobiology to study the neuroimmune interactions in the gut and the brain. I have a strong passion for understanding how the gut communicates with the brain and how imbalances in this axis can affect various human diseases, such as obesity, inflammatory, and psychiatric disorders.My research experience spans from the molecular to the systems level, using various experimental approaches and protocols to target the brain vasculature, adult neurogenesis, glia responses and intestinal epithelial cells. I have contributed to multiple peer-reviewed articles, research funding, and conference presentations, highlighting the possible clinical applications and implications of my findings. I believe that the future of biomedical science stands on the development of effective personalized drugs based on unraveling the mechanisms of human diseases.

Experience

1. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Inflammation and Immunology

   Pfizer

   Jan 2023 — Present · Cambridge, MA, US

   Led a discovery research project to study a rare intestinal sensory epithelial cell type that secretes GLP1, named neuropod cell, resulting in its identification in the human colon for the first time. Findings are published in bioRχiv. •Designed histology protocols, tissue clearing assays, and imaging analysis pipelines (e.g, Imaris, HALO) for improving and enhancing the in-situ characterization and identification of neuropod cells in the murine and human colon. •Established cross-functional collaboration with Pfizer’s Preclinical and Systems Immunology teams to create Python and R pipelines for the meta-analysis of single-RNA sequencing data from the colon epithelium of healthy and IBD patients, resulting in the creation of a human colonic epithelial cell atlas to identify and characterize neuropod cells. •Designed high-throughput assays for the quantification of incretins (e.g, GLP1, PYY) and pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines in colon organoids and cancer cell lines, improving drug screening speed and reproducibility. •Initiated vendor engagements via the Scientist.com platform and secured collaboration with more than 10 vendors in the US and Europe for assay development and the delivery of human tissue formalin-fixed paraffin sections and plasma from healthy and IBD patients, resulting in the acceleration of the discovery efforts.•Designated as a Super-User of Pfizer’s Optical Imaging Center, serving as a subject matter expert in advanced optical imaging techniques and as a mentor for scientists and interns, helping them to optimize experimental design and data acquisition.

Education

• Harvard University

  Postdoc Fellow

• National & Kapodistrian University of Athens

  Bachelor's degree, Biology, General

• University of Crete

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Adult Neurogenesis, Gut Brain Axis

• National & Kapodistrian University of Athens

  Master of Science - MS, Molecular Medicine