Ioanna Mela

University of Cambridge, UK

Dr Ioanna Mela studied Chemical Engineering with a specialisation in Biotechnology at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. During that time, she undertook a student placement at Unilever Corporate Research at Colworth, where she learned how to use Atomic Force Microscopy. This led to a PhD in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, with Professor Robert Henderson, where she was introduced to DNA nanotechnology. She worked on this area during a Research Associate appointment at the Department of Pharmacology, combining it with high-speed Atomic Force Microscopy. In 2018 she moved to the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge as a Research Associate where she developed state-of-the-art correlative atomic force microscopy with super-resolution microscopy platforms, with a focus on visualising biological specimens. In parallel, she explored further her interest in DNA nanotechnology and specifically in DNA nanostructures that can specifically target bacteria. In 2022 she was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, to set up her own laboratory in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge and pursue her interests in DNA nanotechnology for drug delivery. The same year, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge.