Despina Miltiadou is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science (ABF). She graduated from the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology of the Agricultural University of Athens and committed research in molecular immunogenetics of ruminants at Roslin and Moredun Research Institutes for the requirements of her Masters by Research (MSc) and Doctorate (PhD) degrees that were awarded by the University of Edinburgh. During her undergraduate and postgraduate studies she has been awarded 16 scholarships/prizes and/or distinctions.

Since 2008 that she joined ABF, she teaches courses related to Genetics and Molecular Biology. Her research interests include identification of genetic loci affecting milk performance and quality traits in small ruminants of local breeds, studying the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism and milk production, phylogenetic and expression analysis of ovine and bovine MHC genes.

She has acted as the coordinator of two 3.5 year research projects funded by the Research Promotion Foundation (RPF), entitled ‘Use of molecular and population genetics for the improvement of Chios sheep’ and ‘Genetic characterisation and the influence of aquaculture on native European seabass populations in Cyprus’, has worked as a principal investigator in two work packages of the project ‘Improvement of lipid fraction in ovine milk and halloumi cheese, towards healthier local products’ and has participated in a 3 year project entitled ‘Study of the effect of production method, organic vs. conventional, on the quality of fat in milk and dairy products of Cyprus’ funded by the biggest dairy industry in Cyprus ‘Kristis-Charalabides’. She has also participated in the international ‘Sheep HapMap Project’, is a member of the International Sheep Genomics Consortium’ and acts as a member of the national Cyprus committee for Animal Genetic Resources.

For more information, please visit the website http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy/cris/rp/rp00047