Spyridon Pergantis
Visiting Professor of Chemistry
Affiliation: Visiting
Education: BSc Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Greece; PhD Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Canada
Research Areas: Elemental speciation, metals in biological and environmental systems, advanced mass spectrometric techniques, nanoparticle and nanoplastic detection
Spyridon (Spiros) Pergantis obtained his BSc in Chemistry in 1989 from the University of Ioannina, Greece. He then went on to obtain a PhD in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 1994, he was awarded a United States National Research Council Resident Research Associateship, which enabled him to join the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Exposure Research Laboratory in Las Vegas, NV, USA, from 1994 to 1996. Subsequently, a European Union "Training and Mobility of Researchers" grant allowed him to work in the Netherlands at Utrecht University and the Free University in Amsterdam. His first academic position was at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. In 2003, he joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Crete, Greece, advancing through the ranks and becoming a full Professor in 2014.
His research interests include the development of advanced analytical chemistry techniques for determining metal species (As, Hg, Se, Sb, Sn, Cr), including metal-containing biomolecules, as well as nanoparticles in environmental and biological matrices, and also for investigating their interaction(s) with biomolecules. To achieve this, he has developed a wide range of separation techniques (HPLC, nanoHPLC, ion mobility spectrometry, affinity chromatography) coupled online with mass spectrometry (electrospray, sonic-spray ionization, nanoelectrospray, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP-MS). He has also developed single-particle ICP-MS techniques suitable for nanoparticle counting and characterization. His current interests focus on the development of hyphenated techniques for nanoplastic determination.
His research has been funded through the European Commission: more specifically, a Marie Curie Excellence Grant and several Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellow Grants. US National Research Council Senior (2010) and Resident (1994) Research Associateship awards. As well as several Greek national grants, mainly from the Greek Ministry of Education and the Greek General Secretariat for Research and Technology.