Stathis Avgoustiniatos, M.S., Ph.D.

Associate Director of Islet Processing Research and Development
Assistant Professor of Surgery

Dr. Efstathios (Stathis) S. Avgoustiniatos was born, raised, and educated in Greece, where he earned a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.  He continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he earned a M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering Practice, attending the General Electric and Chevron stations, and a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering with a thesis on “Oxygen diffusion limitations in pancreatic islet culture and immunoisolation” and a Minor in Biology.  Following graduation he worked as a Biomanufacturing Consultant for BioPharm Services in Massachusetts and the United Kingdom, before returning to diabetes research, consulting for Giner, Inc., Yasoo Health Inc., and Wilson Wolf Manufacturing.  He joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2005 as a Research Associate and Assistant Professor of Surgery.

Dr. Avgoustiniatos is a member of the Sigma Xi honor society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.  He has been an 11-time recipient of the Greek National Fellowship and was awarded a Prize from the Mathematical Society of Greece.  He has published several experimental and theoretical papers in the areas of chemical engineering and diabetes research, including measurements of the thermal conductivity of liquids, analysis of internal and external mass transfer limitations in tissue, and modeling of oxygen supply during pancreas preservation and islet culture and immunoisolation.

His current research interests include studying the stresses during pancreas and islet processing that decrease viable islet yield for transplantation; improving tissue oxygenation during pancreas preservation and islet culture; and engineering of the transplantation site for improving islet oxygenation and survival during the revascularization period.

Curriculum Vitae (.doc)