Foteini Kakulas, BSc, Hons, PhD University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Foteini Hassiotou completed a BSc in Biology at the Aristotle University of Greece, with First Class Honors in Microbiology. She then migrated to Perth, completing a PhD in 2009 in Plant Biology at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Shortly after, she started working at the Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group (UWA) on breast milk stem cells and commenced a second PhD on this subject, which she completed in 2012. During a few months in 2011-2012, she was a visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of North Carolina (USA) conducting research on breast development and cancer. She is now a Research Fellow at the Hartmann Group leading the Cell Biology Team of the Group. She collaborates with key research groups around the world, with focus on advancing the current knowledge on stem cells, lactation and cancer. Her research has been widely recognized, with awards and articles highlighting the findings of stem cells in breast milk, as well as the development of tests to assess the health status of the lactating breast and the breastfeeding mother/infant dyad.