The Field-resolved Infrared Spectroscopy Team welcomes Theodore Christoforidis (left) and Igor Kukhtevich (right) as our new microfluidic scientists. They will work together on the development of a high-throughput sample delivery system for our next-generation infrasampler. The new microfluidic system will allow us to perform reliable and reproducible measurements on blood samples from the lasers for life and health for Hungary campaigns.
Theodore finished his studies at the National Technical University of Athens with a master in microsystems and nanostructures. He then moved to Chicago to do his PhD with Prof. David Eddington on controlling gases using microfluidics. Afterwards, he did a postdoc at the University of Minnesota on the development of microfluidic droplets as artificial cell systems. End of September of this year he joined the team to develop our microfluidic sample handling.
Igor did his master degree at ITMO University Saint-Petersburg, followed by a PhD at ITMO on the development of microfluidic devices for bacteria and cell analysis with high-resolution microscopy. After that, he studied as a visiting scientist at the University of Warwick sperm-cell motility using microfluidic chips. In 2015 he went for a postdoc to the Laboratory of Functional Epigenetics and Chromatin Regulation in Strasbourg, where he developed microfluidic chips for gene expression studies in yeast cells. Since 2016 he works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Helmholtz Zentrum München on the development of different microfluidic chips for biological and biomolecular applications. While continuing his work at Helmholtz Zentrum, he took on a part-time position to support since 1st of November the microfluidic development in our team.
