Dr Periklis (Laki) Pantazis

Reader in Advanced Optical Precision Imaging

Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder
Chair Imperial College London and LEICA Microsystems Imaging Hub

I enjoy being able to see the processes of life unfold in real time. Much like a painting, sculpture, building or another form of art, it empowers us, as an audience, to understand and emphasise with the subject matter. Developing imaging methods across the full scale of biological organisation allows us to consciously and mindfully consume the inner workings of biology, from proteins to whole organisms.

Postdoctoral Scholars

Dr Maaike Welling

Postdoctoral Scholar

D-BSSE ETH

Maaike Welling received her PhD from Utrecht University in the Netherlands where she studied pluripotency and early germ cell development in the group of Prof. Niels Geijsen at the Hubrecht Institute. After graduating she started working as a postdoc in the group of Prof. Periklis Pantazis at the D-BSSE to investigate the emergence of asymmetry in the early mouse embryo. Maaike is currently continuing this project in the group of Prof. Mustafa Khammash in Basel and is also still actively involved with new projects in the Pantazis lab.

PhD Students

Konstantinos Kalyviotis

PhD Student

Imperial College London

The intricacy of developmental processes has been getting me mesmerised throughout the years of my undergraduate studies. The innovative progress in top-notch precision live imaging techniques lights greatly the complex processes of development and disease. Revealing in depth the nature of living demands thinking with the eyes and seeing with the brain, as Daniel Mazia has suggested. But, of course, that’s the beauty and the challenge of this enchanting field.

Edagül Uluçay

PhD Student

Imperial College London

Oesophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death worldwide. I will develop a new approach to treat oesophageal cancer using bioharmonophores, polymer-encapsulated, self-assembling peptides that are biodegradable. They have the potential to radically improve photodynamic therapy in terms of depth of treatment field and effectiveness. As an aspiring general surgeon, I hope to improve the quality of life of cancer patients in the future using this novel approach.

See Swee (Elijah) Tang

PhD Student

Imperial College London

Without mechanical force, human development cannot take place. Discovering how cellular mechanics come to play during cardiac development gives me hope that one day we can heal a broken heart! Expanding from my biology roots, I am exploring the application of bioengineering tools to help answer fundamental physiological questions. Prior to joining Pantazis lab, I completed my MSc in Translational Neuroscience at Imperial College London, researching the pathology of dementia.

Julian Boecker

PhD Student

Imperial College London

Metastatic breast cancer is currently incurable due to the near inevitability that some cancer cells will become resistant during the course of treatment. As an aspiring oncologist, I am interested in how competitive interactions between cancerous and healthy cells shape tumour growth and resistance. Using advanced cell labelling and tracking techniques as well as cutting-edge microscopy, I aim to catch malignant cells in the act of killing their peaceful neighbours. Hopefully, insights into this process will expose cancer’s set of tricks and reveal potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited to drive complete responses to treatment in more women.