With deep sadness the international scientific community was informed on Monday, July 3, of his loss Tassos Economouprominent university professor and researcher in the field of Molecular Biology.

Tasos Oikonomou was born and raised in Alexandroupolis, he was the son of the surgeon Apostolos and Sofia Oikonomou. He passed away on July 3, 2023, at the age of 59 from a heart attack in Leuven, Belgium, where he had been working as a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven since 2012. He was married to the biological researcher Dr. Lily Karamanou with whom he had three children. children, Stamati, Sophia and Galatea.

He graduated from the Biology Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and continued his postgraduate and doctoral studies in England with a scholarship. He received his PhD (1990) in Molecular Microbiology from the John Innes Institute and the University of East Anglia, UK.

From 1990 to 1997 he continued his career as a postdoctoral researcher at the John Innes Institute, and at other internationally recognized universities, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA, USA) and the Dartmouth College School of Medicine (USA).

From 1996 to 2016 he was a member of the faculty of the Biology Department of the University of Crete and a collaborating researcher of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB, Heraklion, Crete) of the Technology and Research Foundation of Crete. From 2000-2010 he was the managing director of the MINOTECH Biotechnology company and a research consultant for the US companies Pfizer and Integrated Genomics.

From 2009 to 2013 he directed the Proteomics laboratory of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of IMBB, alongside his scientific team which included Greek and foreign researchers, students and research technicians. His contribution to the foundation and development of research into basic cell mechanisms was multifaceted. He contributed the most to the development and recognition of IMBB as a center of excellence and led to the extensive financing of major European and international programs in our country.

Since 2013 he has been working as a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the Rega Medical Research Institute, continuing his important research activity and academic work. Main subjects with which his research group dealt were: the mechanism of secretion of toxins and enzymes from bacterial cells, the biotechnological production of human polypeptides for use as biopharmaceuticals, the development of new antibiotics and the development of biosensors.

Tasos Oikonomou was widely acclaimed in the international scientific community, while he had an extensive and internationally recognized writing activity with publications in the highest scientific journals, such as Cell and Nature. He was also a beloved and inspiring university teacher who radiated enthusiasm for his subject and opened new avenues and perspectives in research to a generation of young scientists in Greece and abroad.

The Department of Biology of the University of Crete in the statement of condolence it issued states among other things: “During his tenure at the University of Crete, Tasos Oikonomou provided a very important academic work and helped the development of our department. He was an excellent scientist with international recognition and acclaim and great love and commitment to the scientific field he served, while he was also an excellent University teacher”.

His body will be transferred to Alexandroupolis where the funeral procession and burial will take place. The exact date and time will be announced soon by his family.