Dr Ioanna Myrtziou Kanaki is a Lecturer in Biochemistry in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from the University of Thessaly, with a significant portion of her doctoral training conducted at the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (INRAE, France) under Prof Alain Puppo and Drs Renaud Brouquisse and Alexandre Boscari. Her research focused on the effects of NO on Medicago truncatula Glutathione Peroxidase 1 (PH-GPX). 

During her undergraduate studies, she held an ERASMUS scholarship at the Centre for Molecular Biology of Plants, University of Tübingen, Germany, and worked under the supervision of Prof Claus Schwechheimer studying the Arabidopsis thaliana COP9 signalosome.

Ioanna spent a year in industry with Gentronix Ltd (now Scantox Manchester), working with Prof Richard Walmsley to develop a novel bioengineered product for genotoxicity detection in pharmaceuticals, nutritional products, and cosmetics. 

Her postdoctoral training was undertaken at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research at the University of Manchester with Prof Tony Day investigating protein-based therapeutic for osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and at the University of Liverpool with Dr Aphrodite Vasilaki examining the effects of protein intake on muscle and bone formation.

Prior to joining LJMU, she worked as a Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Chester Medical School, where she studied the effects of antidiabetic drugs and nutrition patterns on bone health and fragility. Ioanna held a lecturer in Biomedical Sciences position with the University of Greater Manchester teaching on the Biomedical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering programmes.

She is a strong advocate for science communication, widening participation in STEM and medical education, and supporting students with special educational needs (SEN) in higher education.