Hello! ​My name is Vasileios Minas. I qualified as a doctor in 2003 and then spent four years performing laboratory-based research during my PhD studies. At the time, I was fascinated by the ability of the mother to develop new life inside her body. I joined a team of scientists who investigated how the fetus survives inside the womb despite the presence of mother's immune system. Our immune systems are designed to detect and attack anything that is foreign to our bodies. Because half of the genetic material of the baby comes from the father, under normal circumstances mother's immune system should attack and reject it. However, the environment inside the womb during pregnancy, changes so much that the usual rules do not apply. Our team examined some of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms which change these rules and allow baby to grow into it's mother's womb and become new life!

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During the same period I participated in two international multi-centre studies of global interest and impact: 

- a study which led to the development of a commercially available vaccine for the prevention of the Human Papilloma Virus types which cause cancer of the cervix.

- a study which led to the development of novel neurosteroid compounds with potential use against neuro-degenerative disorders (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS) (patent US20100234335A1)

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Those were some of the most enjoyable and productive years of my life.