Aikaterina Paraskevopoulou graduated from the School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) (BSc 2016) and received her Master Degree on “Materials Science and Technology” from the same department (NTUA) (MSc 2018). Since October 2018, she has been a PhD candidate in the Laboratory of Photo- Catalytic Processes and Environmental Chemistry at the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (INN), NCSR “Demokritos” (Primary supervisor: Dr. T. Triantis) and works for the development of methods for the isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds from cyanobacteria biomass. In the frame of her PhD thesis, see also performed contractual work (2019-2021) supporting the research program entitled: “Bioconversion of CO₂ into High-added Value bioproducts through sustainable microalgae cultivation processes – CO₂ Bioproducts”. From June 2021 until December 2022, she worked as a research associate at the Doping Control Laboratory of Athens (DCLA), of the Institute of Life Sciences & Applications, NCSR "DEMOKRITOS”. Ms. Paraskevopoulou’s research activities included the following areas:

• Development of methods for the extraction and the isolation of bioactive compounds from cyanobacterial biomass (liquid-solid, liquid-liquid, SPE and HS-SPME extraction) and appropriate protocols for the fractionation of cyanobacterial biomass extracts (normal and reverse phase column chromatography).
• Development and application of methods for the detection and identification of a wide range of organic compounds (proteins, carotenoids, toxins, amino acids, volatile organic compounds) using modern analytical techniques (TLC, HPLC-PDA, HPLC-MS/MS, HILIC-MS/MS, GC-MS, GC-MS/MS). For the identification of volatile organic compounds, a protocol based on AMDIS software has been also developed.
• Development of appropriate protocols for the study of the antioxidant activity of cyanobacterial biomass extracts and their bioactivity using appropriate enzyme assays.
• Analysis of urine, blood and alternative biological samples from athletes for the detection of hormones and prohibited doping substances, using GC-MS/MS and GC-C/IRMS analysis.
• Method validation of prohibited doping substances using GC-MS/MS and GC-C/IRMS.

Additionally, from October 2023 to September 2024, she worked as a research associate at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (Leibniz-LSB@TUM). Her research activities focused on:

• Detection and identification of odor-active compounds in cyanobacterial biomass using GC-O-FID, GC×GC-HRMS and heart-cut GC-GC/HRMS techniques
• Synthesis of standard isotopically labeled compounds
• Quantification of odor-active compounds by applying Stable Isotope Dilution Analysis (SIDA)

Since October 2024, she has been working as a mass spectrometry technician at the Mass Spectrometry Facility, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). More specifically, Ms. Paraskevopoulou is:

• Responsible for two GC-MS systems and three LC-MS systems
• In charge of all Chemistry & Materials services, including method development and data analysis using LC-MS, GC-MS, and LC-HRMS systems
• Responsible for training researchers in the use of LC-MS and GC-MS systems

To date she has participated in seven scientific publications, five international and two Greek scientific conferences.