• About Us
  • What we do
    • Mechanistic modeling
    • Multi-level modeling
    • Machine learning and bioinformatics
    • eHealth and apps
    • Clinical studies
  • Members
  • Our blog
  • Contact Us
• Research
  • Our modelling
  • Funded projects
  • Publications
• Education
  • Courses
  • Internships and
    Student Projects
• SUND
  • About SUND
  • Services
  • Collaborations
• Events
  • Upcoming and past events

Maria-Anna Sotiropoulou

I am currently working as a Research Assistant at Linköping University - Department of Biomedical Engineering (IMT), in the Integrative Systems Biology Group. My work has been focused on understanding the intracellular metabolic changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease. I work on the modeling side of a method called metabolic flux analysis (MFA), which helps us understand how metabolism changes in the brain during disease. While the experiments are done in neuroblastoma cells (a cell line similar to neurons), I focus on building and improving the computational models that interpret the data.

A key part of my work is to quantitatively determine metabolic fluxes, which show how metabolites are converted inside cells. These fluxes cannot be directly measured with normal lab techniques, because they reflect internal rates of reactions that happen too quickly and invisibly for standard tools. Instead, we use a method called 13C metabolic flux analysis (13C MFA), which uses mathematical modelling to quantify the fluxes based on the distribution of isotopically labeled substrates. In our study we also use the Elementary Metabolite Unit (EMU) framework, that simplifies the calculations by breaking down the metabolic network into smaller units. We then use these models to calculate the metabolic fluxes based on experimental data.

My studies include a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics and an M.Sc. in Protein Biotechnology, and I am planning to pursue a PhD in the future, where I aim to continue developing advanced modeling tools for studying metabolism in neurodegenerative diseases. I have an interdisciplinary background with experience in both experimental and computational research.

I am also the contact person for STRATIF-AI. STRATIF-AI is our flagship project to improve prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of stroke patients using digital twins and AI. STRATIF-AI has received funding over four years by Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation.

Read more about STRATIF-AI.

Contact

E-mail: maria-anna.sotiropoulou@liu.se
Linköping University profile