Zoe Pikramenou
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Zoe Pikramenou is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Photophysics at the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, where she is the first female professor in the chemistry department.


Education and career

Pikramenou graduated in 1987 with a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the
University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...
in Greece. She then moved to
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
where she worked in the lab of Daniel G. Nocera, graduating with a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1993. She then conducted post-doctoral studies at
University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...
in France as a Marie Curie and Collège de France fellow working with
Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winner
Jean-Marie Lehn Jean-Marie Lehn (born 30 September 1939) is a French chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen in 1987 for his synthesis of cryptands. Lehn was an early innovator in the field of supramo ...
. She became a lecturer at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
in 1995, then was appointed to the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
in 2000.


Research

Pikramenou is a inorganic chemist with experience in
nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...
and photophysics, who has researched lanthanide luminescent complexes. Recent research has investigated how
gold nanorods In nanotechnology, nanorods are one morphology of nanoscale objects. Each of their dimensions range from 1–100 nm. They may be synthesized from metals or semiconducting materials. Standard aspect ratios (length divided by width) are 3-5. Nan ...
could be applied to treat cancerous cells in the body. This research is in partnership with the Canadian company Sona Nanotech Inc. Pikramenou has researched other applications of gold nanoparticles, including their use in tracking blood flow in capillary networks. She was part of a team that developed iridium-coated gold nanoparticles, significant because they have a longer lifetime of use. She has co-investigated platelet nodules, using microscopy. Another medical application of Pikramenou's nanoparticle research includes the application of coated silica particles to treat sensitive teeth. As part of her doctoral research at Michigan State University, Pikramenou invented a nanoparticle bucket, which lights up when in contains a particular compound. This kind of microscopic bucket is described as a supramolecule.


Coated nanoparticles patent

In 2017, Pikramenou and her co-researcher
Nicola J Rogers Nicola may refer to: People * Nicola (name), including a list of people with the given name or, less commonly, the surname **Nicola (artist) or Nicoleta Alexandru, singer who represented Romania at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest * Nicola people, ...
, were granted a patent to protect their invention of a new process of combining at least one metal complex and a surfactant.


Awards

*2012 - Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship *2007 - EPSRC Discipline Hopping Award with Chemical Engineering *2000 - The Aventis Scientia Europea Prize, Aventis Foundation and French Academy of Sciences for collaborative work with Physicist and Biologist


References


External links


The Zoe Pikramenou Photophysics GroupProfessor Pikramenou's Inaugural Lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pikramenou, Zoe Michigan State University alumni British nanotechnologists Academics of the University of Birmingham Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British women engineers Women chemical engineers 21st-century women engineers Women bioengineers Place of birth missing (living people) Nationality missing