Curriculum Vitae

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2025 – Present

PhD Candidate

Department of Medicine, University of Patras
Supervisor: Dr. Zoi Lygerou, Cell Cycle Laboratory. Research on DNA replication licensing and replication fork protection mechanisms in genome integrity.
2022 – 2024

MSc in Biomedical Sciences

Department of Medicine, University of Patras — Grade: 9.55/10
Thesis: “Pharmacological targeting of cells with DNA replication licensing aberrations for the study of novel synthetic lethal interactions.”
Supervisor: Dr. Zoi Lygerou
2021 – 2022

BSc Thesis

Laboratory of General Biology, Department of Medicine, University of Patras
Thesis: “Construction of a stably transfected HeLa cell line for the expression of Geminin protein fused with mCherry2.”
Supervisor: Dr. Zoi Lygerou
2018 – 2022

BSc in Biology

Department of Biology, University of Patras — Grade: 9.41/10 (1st of the year)
2025 – Present

PhD Student

Cell Cycle Laboratory, University of Patras
Investigating the interplay between DNA replication licensing and replication fork protection mechanisms in safeguarding genome integrity.
November 2024 – December 2025

Research Associate in Molecular Biology

Laboratory of General Biology, Department of Medicine, University of Patras
Project: “Identification of gametic series mutations in homologous recombination genes in peripheral blood.”
October 2022 – Present

Postgraduate Teaching Assistant

University of Patras
Assisting in undergraduate laboratory courses in biology and biomedical sciences.
September 2023 – October 2024

External Evaluation & Accreditation Panel Member

Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (HAHE)
Participation in committees for the evaluation of postgraduate programmes of Greek universities.
July – August 2022

Undergraduate Biology Intern

BSRC Alexander Fleming, Athens
Scientific Advisor: Dr. Vasiliki Kostourou.
Project: “Study of cellular endothelial connections using molecular techniques.”
Techniques: immunofluorescence in cells and tumor sections, cell culture, DNA isolation, PCR, electrophoresis.
  1. Badra-Fajardo N., Karydi E., Bayona-Feliu A., Gómez-González B., Preza O., Arbi M., Kalogeropoulou A., Rantala J.K., Taraviras S., Aguilera A., Lygerou Z. (2026). “FANCD2 restrains fork progression and prevents fragility at early origins upon re-replication.” Nature Communications, 17, 2478. DOI
December 2025

Poster Presentation

75th Panhellenic Conference of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Targeting Replication Licensing Machinery for the Development of Cancer-Specific Therapeutic Approaches.”
Elena Karydi, Chara Papalouka, Nibal Badra-Fajardo, Stavros Taraviras, Zoi Lygerou
December 2024

Short Talk

74th Panhellenic Conference of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Pharmacological targeting of cells with DNA replication licensing aberrations for the study of novel synthetic lethal interactions.”
Elena Karydi, Nibal Badra-Fajardo, Ourania Preza, Stavros Taraviras, Zoi Lygerou
December 2024

Poster Presentation (co-author)

74th Panhellenic Conference of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Investigation of synthetic lethal interactions in cells with impaired DNA repair mechanisms and aberrant DNA replication licensing.”
Lymperdopoulou V.A., Moloni P., Papalouka C., Koutsi E., Badra-Fajardo N., Karydi E., Taraviras S., Lygerou Z.
December 2023

Poster Presentation

73rd Panhellenic Conference of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Identification of novel synthetic lethal interactions in cancer cells with DNA replication licensing aberrations.”
Elena Karydi, Nibal Badra-Fajardo, Ourania Preza, Stavros Taraviras, Zoi Lygerou
November 2023

Poster Presentation

10th Young Scientists Workshop, Hellenic Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Identification of novel synthetic lethal interactions in cancer cells with DNA replication licensing aberrations.”
Elena Karydi, Nibal Badra-Fajardo, Ourania Preza, Stavros Taraviras, Zoi Lygerou
December 2022

Poster Presentation (co-author)

72nd Panhellenic Conference of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“McIdas cell cycle regulation is necessary for genome integrity.”
Bournaka S., Arbi M., Tsaridou S., Petroulaki V., Karydi E., Taraviras S., Lygerou Z.
May 2022

Short Talk

Conference “Applications of Precision Medicine in Oncology”
“Tumor agnostic therapies in cancer.”
October 2026 – April 2027

Bodossaki Foundation Scholarship

Scholarship for visiting researchers.
2023 – 2024

Onassis Foundation Scholarship

Scholarship for postgraduate studies.
2022

University of Patras Award

Award for graduating as 1st of the year (Grade: 9.41/10).
2019 – 2020

George & Angeliki Skouras Foundation Scholarship

Scholarship for academic performance (Grade: 9.28/10).

Molecular Biology

Western Blotting Immunofluorescence Confocal Microscopy Widefield Microscopy DNA Fiber Assay Flow Cytometry PCR qPCR CRISPR/Cas9 Clonogenic Assay Gel Electrophoresis High-Content Screening

Cell Culture

Cell Transfection Drug Treatment Assays Stable Cell Line Generation

Software & Computational

ImageJ / Fiji FlowJo ImageLab SPSS Adobe Illustrator Microsoft Office Google Workspace
Greek Native
English C2 — CaMLA Certificate
French B2 — Sorbonne Diploma
October 2023 – Present

Member

Hellenic Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
2022 – Present

Core Team Member — TEDx Patras

TEDx Patras 2025 “Once Upon Tomorrow”, TEDx Patras 2023 “Bridging Within”, TEDx Patras 2022 “Metamorphosis”
2018 – 2022

Volunteer — TEDx Patras

TEDx Patras 2019 “Uncertainty”, TEDx Patras 2018 “Values”
May 2019

Volunteer — Patras Science Festival 2019