Research Interests

Current research areas and interests include:

• Synthesis and characterization of multifunctional peptide/protein-polymer hybrids,
• Directed biomaterial assembly, structure-function relationships,
• Biotechnological and material applications of synthetic biomaterials (e.g. drug delivery systems, nanoreactors),
• Cascade (bio)catalysis, Single enzyme catalysis.

Short Curriculum Vitae

Kelly Velonia has received the B.Sc. in Chemistry at the University of Crete. She holds a doctoral degree in Mechanistic Organic Chemistry from the University of Crete where she did her graduate work with Profs I. Smonou and G.J. Karabatsos. In 2000 she joined the group of Prof. R.J.M. Nolte at the Department of Organic Chemistry of the University of Nijmegen (RUN), The Netherlands, as a post-doctoral fellow. In 2001 she joined the group of Prof. F.C. De Schryver at the Department of Chemistry, University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium, as a post-doctoral fellow and in 2002 returned at the group of Prof. R.J.M. Nolte as a Marie Curie Individual Fellow. In 2004 she joined the Department of Organic Chemistry of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, as an Assistant Professor. In 2007 she was appointed Assistant Professor at the Department of Materials Science, University of Crete (tenure 2010).

Selected Recent Publications

• Liarou, E, Whitfield, R, Anastasaki, A, Engelis, NG, Jones, GR, Velonia, K, Haddleton, DM. "Copper-Mediated Polymerization without External Deoxygenation or Oxygen Scavengers", ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION 57, 8998-9002 (2018).
• Luss, AL, Kulikov, PP, Romme, SB, Andersen, CL, Pennisi, CP, Docea, AO, Kuskov, AN, Velonia, K, Mezhuev, YO, Shtilman, MI, Tsatsakis, AM, Gurevich, L. "Nanosized carriers based on amphiphilic poly-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone for intranuclear drug delivery", NANOMEDICINE 13, 703-715 (2018).
• Kuskov, AN, Kulikov, PP, Goryachaya, AV, Tzatzarakis, MN, Tsatsakis, AM, Velonia, K, Shtilman, MI. "Self-assembled amphiphilic poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone nanoparticles as carriers for hydrophobic drugs: Stability aspects", JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE 135, 45637 (2018).
• Kuskov, AN, Kulikov, PP, Goryachaya, AV, Tzatzarakis, MN, Docea, AO, Velonia, K, Shtilman, MI, Tsatsakis, AM. "Amphiphilic poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone nanoparticles as carriers for non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs: In vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo acute toxicity study", NANOMEDICINE-NANOTECHNOLOGY BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 13, 1021-1030 (2017).
• Ioannou, CP, Ioannou, GI, Moushi, EE, Velonia, K, Chronakis, N. "Self-Assembled Giant Vesicles Formed by Type I [3:3]-Hexakis Adducts of C-60 Equipped with Enantiomerically Pure cyclo-Monomalonate Addends", EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY , 4598-4602 (2015).
• Daskalaki, E, Le Droumaguet, B, Gerard, D, Velonia, K. "Multifunctional Giant Amphiphiles via simultaneous copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition and living radical polymerization", CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS 48, 1586-1588 (2012).
• Velonia, K. "Protein-polymer amphiphilic chimeras: recent advances and future challenges", POLYMER CHEMISTRY 1, 944-952 (2010).