The “bet” of early and non-invasive diagnosis of melanoma, through the development of a pioneering biosensor, Eleni Hatzilakou, a young scientist from Drama, who is doing her PhD at Imperial College in London, has set out through her research. In this battle against the disease, which is responsible for 80% of skin cancer deaths, she has received support through a scholarship from the “Elena Iliopoulou Yamas” Foundation.

The prognostic data of the World Health Organization are not encouraging at all. In 2040, mortality from melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, is expected to increase by almost 50%. These data combined with climate change which is often found as the cause behind the disease were the driving force for AUTH chemical engineering graduate, Eleni Hatzilakou, to turn to biomedical engineering and specifically to focus on skin cancer.

“I wanted to do something that would have a social impact, because I consider it my obligation to offer a solution to a social issue,” he points out to APE-MPE.

Her dreams quickly became goals: to make a biosensor, a device that by taking biological material from the tumor environment, will be a tool for the diagnosis of skin cancer, reducing the need for the classic biopsy.

The operation of the biosensor refers to the well-known rapid tests that we all got used to using during the Covid-19 pandemic. The device detects the biological signals (biomarkers), i.e. the substances secreted by the diseased organism, using appropriate bioreceptors. It then converts them into a transmitted form, signal or information (signal transducer), which is received by an interconnected processing system in the laboratory.

The use of biosensors may be a widespread field in some diseases, but not in skin cancer, where some biosensors may exist, but they focus on the later stages of the disease and have not led to the creation of a diagnostic device for use by doctors or patients.

The biosensor designed by Ms. Hatzilakou is not only aimed at the early diagnosis of the disease and the creation of an integrated device that can be used by doctors, or even by patients, but has one more important innovation: the use of microneedles, with which the sample will be taken without pain, and the bioreceptors will be integrated on them, so that the analysis of the material and thus the diagnosis can be done on the spot.

The young researcher’s ultimate goal with the biosensor she is developing is “to reduce all the socio-economic differences that exist in the world, because we may think of a biopsy and even though it is something painful and a bit expensive, it is something we can do. But that’s not the case for all people across the length and breadth of the world, so I think my biggest goal is to achieve something that gives access to skin cancer diagnosis around the world,” he points out.

The scholarship

For her research, Eleni Hatzilakou has secured a scholarship from Imperial University where she is doing her PhD, however she has also received a scholarship from the “Elena Iliopoulou Yamas” Foundation, in order to cover additional costs.

“The scholarship will act as a catalyst. The truth is that there are very big financial difficulties, especially after Brexit, for research projects in England. And while I have managed to secure a stipend for my tuition and salary, the money available for research supplies and publication of research at conferences is very limited. So the scholarship came at the most opportune time when the available resources were running out. I am very grateful and thank them”, she points out to APE-MPE.

The non-profit foundation “Elena Iliopoulou Yamas” was created by Spyros Yamas in 2021 in the name of his wife Elena, who died after a battle with colon cancer. The aim of the Foundation is to provide financial support to PhD researchers who focus on research into the prevention and treatment of cancer and who are unable to finance themselves.

Inclusion of women in science

Eleni Hadjilakou’s social sensibilities are not limited to the fight against skin cancer. The young researcher is an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and a committee member of the Women in STEM Organization at Imperial College London, taking initiatives to tackle gender discrimination in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

“For too many years, our world and the technologies that were available were mostly made by men, even though they were intended for the whole of society,” explains Ms. Hatzilakou to APE-MPE and cites a typical example: “Until until recently clinical drug studies were not required to state whether the animals being studied were male or female. But we know that drugs depending on genotype and phenotype can affect the body differently, so recently researchers have been required to have equal numbers of male and female animals in clinical studies.”

For Mrs. Hatzilakou, the issue is to exist simultaneously with equality “and parity, which was ignored at the beginning. In other words, we started out wanting to shape equal societies, but we ignored that someone might need something more or something less.”

However, as he clarifies, “the uniqueness that anyone can offer has to do with the person they are and not with their gender.” “And women are people, as people they have a lot to offer, that’s why they are necessary. Each person, depending on their experiences, the personality they have formed, their goals and dreams and in general everything that makes up their being, has something unique to offer”, he concludes.