Research Team
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
It is the largest university in Greece. Its main campus is located in the city center and covers an area of approximately 430,000 m², while several of its facilities, both academic and administrative, are situated outside the main campus or in other cities. In total, it comprises 10 schools, which are organized into 40 departments, along with one single-department school. It offers 41 undergraduate programs and 92 postgraduate programs, delivered either by individual departments or through interdepartmental, inter-university, and international collaborations. Approximately 80,000 students are enrolled in its Schools and Departments, while its academic and research staff (Faculty Members) number more than 1,600.
Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology
The Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology (LPT/AUTH) was established in 1955 under Government Gazette A’ 226/24-8-1955 and belongs to the Department of Pharmacy within the School of Health Sciences at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The laboratory supports educational and research needs in the following scientific fields:
(a) Design, technology, and formulation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.
(b) Evaluation of the quality of medicines, cosmetic products, and substances.
(c) Biopharmaceutical assessment of pharmaceutical substances and formulations, and the study of factors affecting the extraction, processing, and quality control of natural products and their constituents.
As part of its activities, the laboratory has developed significant collaborations with other divisions of the Department of Pharmacy, as well as with the Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture, and Dentistry at AUTH. It also maintains an extensive network of collaborations with other academic and research institutions in Greece and abroad.
Laboratory of Sustainability Engineering
Sustainability Engineering Laboratory – It was founded in 2022 under Government Gazette B’ 2950/10-06-2022 (renamed from the Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, originally established in 2002 by Presidential Decree 390/2002). It belongs to the Energy Sector of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh).
The laboratory supports educational and research activities in the following scientific areas:
(a) Engineering for Sustainable Development,
(b) Technologies for Sustainable Resource Management and Sustainability Engineering.
The laboratory has a long history of research activities related to the interactions between Environment, Energy, and Economy, both at national and international level, having successfully completed more than 200 projects with partners such as regional authorities, universities, and SMEs.
Within the framework of this project, SEL/AUTh will focus on:
(i) Sustainable design of products and services in the context of sustainable production, including applications in the pharmaceutical industry,
(ii) Decision-making support for the sustainable management (economic, environmental, and social dimensions) of industrial products,
(iii) Life cycle cost analysis and techno-economic assessment,
(iv) Circularity of material flows and valorization of pharmaceutical industry by-products to develop circular economy models.
Short CVs
- Panagiotis Barmpalexis is an Associate Professor at the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology (LPT/AUTh). He has worked for more than ten (10) years as a lead scientist in the research and development of pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations in the Greek pharmaceutical industry, and he also holds nine (9) filed patents. His published scientific work includes, among others, 75 original research articles (www.scopus.com) as well as 30 conference proceedings (1305 citations with an h-index of 21). Academically, he has participated in more than ten (10) funded research projects as a scientific coordinator.
- Christos Vlachokostas is an Associate Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), as well as the Director of the Sustainability Engineering Laboratory (SEL/AUTh). His published scientific work includes, among other outputs, 59 original research articles and more than 73 presentations at international and Greek conferences (2,860 citations, h-index: 29). He has participated in the implementation of 33 national and European research projects in the fields of sustainable management, circular economy, energy resources, and environmental engineering, with a total AUTh budget exceeding €7.5 million.
- Alexandra Michailidou graduated in 2009 from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh). In 2017, she was awarded a PhD from the same Department. Since 2011, she has been a research associate of the Sustainability Engineering Laboratory (SEL) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at AUTh.
- Ο Δημήτριος-Αριστοτέλης Κουμπάκης κατέχει το δίπλωμα του Μηχανικού Παραγωγής και Διοίκησης του ΔΠΘ. Είναι υποψήφιος διδάκτορας στο ΕΜΑ/ΑΠΘ. Έχει εργαστεί για τρία χρόνια σε μεγάλες εταιρίες, συμμετέχοντας σε διεθνή ενεργειακά έργα, όπου ανέλαβε ηλεκτρομηχανολογικές μελέτες για κτίρια και εργοστάσια παραγωγής ενέργειας. Έχει συμμετάσχει στο ερευνητικό πρόγραμμα “Επενδυτικά Σχέδια Καινοτομίας” της Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας (2014-2020) ΕΣΠΑ και έχει δημοσιεύσεις σε επιστημονικά περιοδικά και συνέδρια.
- Konstantinos Kontogiannopoulos graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and holds a PhD (2011) focusing on the valorization of bioactive natural products through innovative drug delivery systems (DDS). He has worked in the Greek pharmaceutical industry as well as in Research Institutes. He is currently a research associate at the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology (LPT/AUTh). His published scientific work includes, among other outputs, 42 original research articles and more than 35 presentations at international and Greek conferences (688 citations, h-index: 16). Finally, he has participated in more than 15 research projects funded by the European Union and Greece.
- Afroditi Kapourani graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering of the School of Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and holds a PhD (2023) in Pharmaceutical Technology. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology (LPT/AUTh). Her published scientific work includes, among other outputs, 25 original research articles and 17 presentations at international and Greek conferences (204 citations, h-index: 10, www.scopus.com). Finally, she has participated in 6 research projects funded by the European Union and Greece.
- Christos Cholevas holds a PhD in Medical Pharmacology. He is the holder of two (2) patents (in medical technology devices) and one (1) utility model certificate. He has participated in two research programs (Heraclitus-II) and three “Research–Create–Innovate” projects, through which he gained significant experience in the development and evaluation of pharmaceutical formulations.
- Thanasis Anagnostopoulos is a Researcher (ELE) of Research Centers–Institutes under paragraph A of article 13a of Law 4310/2014, as in force (Special Functional Scientist B’ at the BRFAA). He holds academic degrees from the Medical School of the University of Athens and the Department of Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). He completed postgraduate training at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and the University of the West of England, Great Britain. He is the Director of the Biotechnology Division at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA). He teaches in undergraduate and postgraduate study programs at the Medical School of the University of Athens. He has 80 published papers in international peer-reviewed journals. h-index: 22 (Scopus), 23 (Google Scholar), with 1,458 citations. He is also the holder of 5 patents.
The project “Sustainable development of three-dimensionally printed medicines” (Project Code: ΥΠ3ΤΑ-0560854) is implemented under the Action “Research Excellence Partnerships – REP” and is co-funded by the European Recovery and Resilience Facility “Greece 2.0” and National resources.
