Pappa Olga

Olga Pappa is a PhD (Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 2016), Msc (Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2008) Laboratory Technician (Department of Medical Laboratories, School of Health and Welfare Professions, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, 2003), occupied in National Public Health Organization (NPHO), Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), in the Antimicrobial Resistance and Hospital Infections Laboratory (AMR&HAI Lab; 2008-today). From October 2023 she holds the position of the head of the AMR & HAI Lab which is the National Reference Lab (NRL) for Laboratory surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Greece and a. the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance of gram neg and gram pos bacteria is studied, b. detection of resistance genes applying molecular techniques is performed and c. protocols for molecular typing of microorganisms as causes of nosocomial infections are developed through sequence based tools such as MLST and WGS. Since 2021 the AMR & HAI Lab participates in the European Antimicrobial Resistance Genes-Reference Laboratory Capacity; EURGen- RefLabCap project (2021-2024) which is coordinated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU Food, Denmark) and the Statens Serum Institut (SSI, Denmark) and Dr Pappa has the scientific supervision of the program. From June 2022 the NRL for Campylobacter spp infections surveillance in Greece has been designated and it functions under the umbrella of the AMR & HAI Lab. From October 2023 Dr Pappa has been officially designated as the National Focal Point (NFP) for Campylobacter spp infections surveillance in Greece at ECDC. The NRL for Campylobacter spp infections surveillance participates in the Food Water Disease- Antimicrobial Resistance-Reference Laboratory Capacity; FWD AMR-RefLabCap project (2021-2024) which is coordinated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU Food, Denmark) and the Statens Serum Institut (SSI, Denmark) and Dr Pappa participates as NFP.

Dr Pappa has participated in various retraining research programs on molecular microbiology since 2004 till now. Her publications follow her research interests which are focused on the study of Microbial Susceptibility of bacterial strains isolated from environmental and clinical habitats to widely used antibiotics under the light of One Health Approach. Also the application and development of sequence based technologies and protocols in Molecular Typing and Phylogenetic Analysis of bacterial strains (environmental and clinical) for surveillance purposes.

She has written or participated in 23 publications in international scientific journals with a total impact factor of 149.583, average impact factor 6.5, bibliographic references 857, h-index =14 και i-10 index=18 (Google Scholar). She has also participated in 28 national and 16 international conferences, in the organization of national and international conferences, seminars and workshops (7), in studied groups for writing research proposals and she is a reviewer in 5 international scientific journals.

Ιndicative publications:

1. Tryfinopoulou Kyriaki, Linkevicius Marius, Pappa Olga, Alm Erik, Karadimas Kleon, Svartström Olov, Polemis Michalis, Mellou Kassiani, Maragkos Antonis, Brolund Alma, Fröding Inga, David Sophia, Vatopoulos Alkiviadis, Palm Daniel, Monnet Dominique L, Zaoutis Theoklis, Kohlenberg Anke, Greek CCRE study group. Emergence and persistent spread of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae high-risk clones in Greek hospitals, 2013 to 2022. Euro Surveill. 2023;28(47):pii=2300571. https://doi.org/ 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.47.2300571
2. Dioli C, Pappa O, Siatravani E, Bratakou S, Tatsiopoulos A, Giakkoupi P, Miriagou V, Beloukas A. Molecular Characterization and Prevalence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Escherichia coli Isolates Derived from Clinical Specimens and Environmental Habitats. Microorganisms. 2023, 26;11(6):1399. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11061399. PMID: 37374900; PMCID: PMC10305429.
3. Polemis, M.; Mandilara, G.; Pappa, O.; Argyropoulou, A.; Perivolioti, E.; Koudoumnakis, N.; Pournaras, S.; Vasilakopoulou, A.; Vourli, S.; Katsifa, H.; Karampatakis, T.; Papavasiliou, A.; Petinaki, E.; Xitsas, S.; Skoura, L.; Protonotariou, E.; Mantzana, P.; Gartzonika, K.; Priavali, E.; Kallinteri, A.; Giannopoulou, P.; Charalampaki, N.; Memezas, M.; CalinaOana, Z.; Papadogianni, M.; Panopoulou, M.; Koutsidou, A.; Vatopoulos, A.; Tryfinopoulou, K. COVID-19 and Antimicrobial Resistance: Data from the Greek Electronic System for the Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance—WHONET-Greece (January 2018–March 2021). Life 2021, 11, 996.
4. 4. Pappa, O.; Kefala, A.M.; Tryfinopoulou, K.; Dimitriou, M.; Kostoulas, K.; Dioli, C.; Moraitou, E.; Panopoulou, M.; Vogiatzakis, E.; Mavridou, A.; Galanis, A.; Beloukas, A. Molecular Epidemiology of Multi-Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates from Hospitalized Patients in Greece. Microorganisms, 2020, 8, 1652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ microorganisms8111652.
5. Pappa, O.; Chochlakis, D.; Sandalakis, V.; Dioli, C.; Psaroulaki, A.; Mavridou, A. Antibiotic Resistance of Legionella pneumophila in Clinical and Water Isolates—A Systematic Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5809. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17165809.
6. Tryfinopoulou K, Giakkoupi P, Pappa O, Karadimas K, Tsiodras S, Vatopoulos A. Laboratory Surveillance of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in an Endemic Country, Greece, 2015–2018. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2019 Oct 23;6(Suppl 2):S292–3. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ ofz360.699. PMCID: PMC6811253.

As for her educational work, she has participated as an instructor since 2006 till now in undergraduate programs (UNIWA, Biomedical Sciences Dpt former Technical Educational Institute of Athens, Laboratory Technicians Dpt) and in postgraduate programs since 2011 till now (Biomedical Sciences Dpt, UNIWA; Department of Medicine, University of Thessaly; Department of Medicine, University of Patras). In both cases she has participated in education committees for the handling of diplomatic studies (15 undergraduate and 7 postgraduates studies).

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