Ioannis is currently a PhD candidate in a joint Maastricht - Birmingham PhD programme, which is performed at the Department of Human Biology (NUTRIM, Maastricht University, NL), and at the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (University of Birmingham, UK – leading university).

In this project, will be explored the role of adipose tissue oxygen metabolism in the pathophysiology of obesity-related complications. This is done by combining in vivo studies in humans to assess fluxes of oxygen, carbon dioxide and adipokines across upper body and lower body adipose tissue (arterio-venous balance technique) and in vitro experiments in differentiated human primary subcutaneous abdominal and femoral adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells. The overall project’s aim is to better understand the putative impact of impaired adipose tissue oxygen consumption on inflammatory and metabolic processes in abdominal and femoral subcutaneous adipose tissue in postmenopausal women with normal weight relative to obesity.

Ioannis obtained his MD in 2014 when he graduated as a valedictorian of his class from the Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly in Greece. As top of the class student he has been awarded several Scholarships and Awards for Academic Excellence from various funds including ‘’IKY’’ (State Scholarships Foundation of Greece). After his graduation he has undertaken part of his clinical training in Greece and conducted clinical research in the UK. More specifically, he worked as a Clinical Trainee in Internal Medicine to prepare for the training in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases in the Third Internal Medicine Clinic in Evangelismos Hospital in Athens, Greece. Before starting his PhD project, he was a Visiting Clinical Research Fellow at the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, during which he was trained in conducting hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps.