Meet the Team: Dimitra

One of the purposes of this publication is to introduce the people behind the science. I want this message to be clear: we are regular people, not eccentric geniuses. Mostly, we were just lucky enough at some point in our lives to be encouraged into science.

I’ll start with me, as I was the only one I could get to do this at short notice :)

I come from Athens, Greece. When I was very young, I wanted to be a concert pianist. I was absolutely certain of that, and I remember worrying that my future self would sabotage my plan. (I’ll admit this sounds a bit eccentric, but I was ten!)

I was right: by the time I was a teenager I had changed my mind and decided to be a medical doctor. I wanted to do something that helps people, and being a pianist seemed selfish. (Practicing for hours every day didn’t really appeal either.)

When the time came to choose a path towards university, I changed my mind again, although this time the reason was more pragmatic: I could not stand the sight of blood — or thick biology textbooks. I also discovered I loved this crazy new fad: computers! So I chose Computer Engineering, and put all thoughts of medicine behind me.

Then I heard about biomedical engineering. You can combine computers and medicine, who knew! I was hooked immediately, and even though I had never lived away from home, I sent PhD applications all over the world. I ended up in Cleveland, Ohio USA (known as the city whose river caught fire — it’s come a long way since then).

Alone on the other side of the world, I cried for two weeks straight. But I quickly found out that I could survive by myself, I could even do quite well.

I know I was very lucky to grow up with the belief that I could do anything I wanted, and the support to do it. I want to pass on this belief and as much support as I can to others. So besides my research, I’m involved in many outreach activities (which you can read about here).

Next time: a short introduction to one of my favourite things in the world: c̶h̶o̶c̶o̶l̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶i̶c̶e̶-̶c̶r̶e̶a̶m̶ computer modelling!