Welcome Dr Mulualem Gebreslassie and Dr Nik Georgopoulos to I2Ri
We are delighted to introduce our new colleagues in I2Ri: Dr Mulualem Gebreslassie who has recently joined us as Associate Professor in MERI and Dr Nik Georgopoulos who joined as an Associate Professor working within BMRC.
Mulualem and Nik are the first appointees within the University’s Transforming Lives Fellowship campaign. The TLF campaign is part of the University’s growth strategy for research and innovation, alongside the Transforming Lives PhD Scholarships, Sheffield Hallam Research and Innovation Fund (SHRIF), and the Researcher and Innovator Development Academy (RIDA).
A key ambition for TLF appointees is to contribute to growth in strategically important, cross-disciplinary areas.
Mulualem exemplifies the ambitions for TLFs, bringing extensive experience of interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering and social science in the domain of energy and sustainability, with over 18 years of research experience in the energy sector.
Mulualem will be primarily working across the Materials and Engineering Research Institute and the Department of Engineering, and is already actively collaborating across the University.
In addition to an engineering focus on energy systems, renewable energy, decarbonization and energy storage, he also has a keen interest in empowering communities’ engagement in energy systems, and a focus on public awareness and education.
You can hear more about these interests in this short introductory video, or drop him an email (M.Gebreslassie@shu.ac.uk).
Following his degree in BSc (Biochemistry & Genetics) and Ph.D. at the University of Leeds, Nik worked as a PDRA at the Cancer Research UK Centre at St James’ Hospital in Leeds and EPSRC-funded Fellow in the Jack Birch Unit of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the University of York.
He took his first academic post at the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Huddersfield as Lecturer, followed by the positions of Senior Lecturer and then Reader. He is now excited to start his new role at the BMRC as an Associate Professor & Transforming Lives Fellow.
Nik’s research focuses on epithelial cell biology, cancer biology and immunology. In the areas of cell death (apoptosis) and cancer, he has aimed to develop novel ways to trigger selective carcinoma cell killing, which led to a novel platform of targeted cancer therapeutics (ThanatoCure®).
Moreover, as part of his interest in normal and disease-associated cell models (e.g. skin), his work has explored the cellular mechanisms of a) chemotherapy-induced hair loss and neuropathic pain and b) defective wound healing. This has permitted the improvement of existing medical devices and the design of novel technologies to provide novel therapeutic interventions.
Currently, he has a major industrial collaboration on chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) and peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) research with Paxman, and he is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) & Co-Founder of the skin regeneration-focused company VeritaCell.
You can get in touch with Nik to discuss his research interests and collaboration opportunities via N.Georgopoulos@shu.ac.uk