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All production activities are supported by laboratory analyses.

The function of the laboratory

The enterprise has a modern microbiology and chemical laboratory. Its main role is to support all production activities by conducting routine lab analyses.

Lab equipment

In carrying out its function, the laboratory has 52 leading-edge lab instruments including both basic analysis instruments and support instruments.

Laboratory staff

The laboratory is staffed by four specialised individuals: A biologist, a chemist, an assistant microbiologist and a public health supervisor. The lab scientists hold post-graduate degrees in food chemistry, microbiology and food technology.

Methods of analysis

There are 62 different methods of analysis available (chemical, microbiological, biochemical, immunobiological) and more than 900 results are produced per month (most are obtained from complex samples).

The methods applied in the lab can be classified according to their speed and reliability into three main categories:

Typical, standard methods that require more time and work (successive incubations in microbiological substrates, or successive stages of purification and isolation of a chemical substance), but are highly accurate.

Moderately fast techniques using some of the initial stages of the standard methods, but provide quicker and quite reliable final results.

Screening tests for immediate results that often require verification in the event of a positive result.

Other laboratory activities include the following:

Applied industrial research aimed at maintaining the premium quality of products. This area involves in-house research using PINDOS infrastructure and personnel. At the same time, the laboratory engages in joint projects as part of European research programmes with universities and/or research centres in Greece and abroad.

Gathering of specialist scientific knowledge on cutting-edge issues related to the chemical and microbiological safety of products. The collected information is then transferred to the applicable departments of the cooperative.

Participating in developing new products or new production processes. The lab determines the preservation time for new products before being manufactured and marketed.

Training cooperative personnel on food and animal feed safety and hygiene.

Laboratory quality assurance:

• The lab is accredited under the ELOT EN ISO/IEC standard 17025:2005 (no. 867 Hellenic Accreditation System).
• It is recognised by the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, Directorate of Veterinary Public Health.
• Its functions are in line with the enterprise's ISO 22000 (and HACCP) quality systems.
• It is member to world scientific organisations (e.g. Society for Applied Microbiology).
• It applies the rules of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP).
• It takes part in interlaboratory programmes to verify the reliability of the methods it uses, in cooperation with national and international reference laboratories.
• It works with reference laboratories to develop and evaluate new methods for controlling food safety.
• It participates in national programmes to control food-born illnesses as a self-monitoring laboratory.

Especially with groups abroad (institutes, companies, universities) coordinate joint efforts in knowledge-intensive areas of common interest by sharing work packages in international projects. These activities have resulted in original and innovative medical diagnostic applications such as: method of analysis of mutations Thalassemia with microarrays, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and genetic diseases, non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of the first trimester of pregnancy, multiple gene analysis of the genetic basis of multifactorial disorders and functional gene expression experiments with Next Generation sequencing and Sanger sequencing. The group has participated in numerous scientific research projects and has been awarded with more than 15 prizes in a number of conferences and has been also funded by Greek non-profit Institutions.

The group has more than twenty years’ experience in designing and carrying out genetic studies of basic and clinical genetics (Copy Number Variations-CNVs, methylation, Single Nucleotide Variations-SNVs, karyotyping, molecular karyotyping). The know-how gained in recent years in this area has been invested in education in modern research techniques, as is NGS and the use of databases and processing/analysis of multiple parallel sequencing results.

The GENLAB in addition to previous experience, proven by the published work, provides routine diagnostic services in a variety of genetic disorders for 25 years. Offers genetic analysis of monogenetic disorders, panel of genes related to male and female infertility and many NGS panels for individualized genetic analysis and precision medicine. Particularly in the field of prenatal diagnosis, offers genetic diagnostics using fetal DNA, and is a unique Reference Center in Western Greece. The GENLAB provides highly specialized, precise, effective and rapid diagnostic services and is systematically controlled for molecular diagnostics with strict quality control.

Using molecular approaches, we have managed to analyse gene expression from single immature human oocytes, diagnose single gene mutation in single cells from embryos and performed prenatal diagnosis from free fetal DNA in the maternal circulation. The GENLAB provides:

• Know-how regarding parameterization of the next generation genomic analyzer.
• Types of genetic analysis methodologies and services.
• Collection, processing and safe storage of biological samples.
• Development of research protocols.
• Development of genetic services in clinical practice and in biotechnology applications.
• Training to health and biomedical scientists in genomics, medical genetics and cuttingedge technologies.

The GenLab features state-of-the-art and an up-to-date diagnosis and research equipment. Equipment is consisted of a Next Generation Sequencer MiSeq (Illumina) ABI Prism 3130 Genetic Analyzer, two (2) micro-injection microscopes, two (2) fluorescent microscopes (Axioimager Z2, Olympus BX 41), one (1) Real Time PCR, two (2) inverted microscopes, two (2) stereoscopes, one (1) Carl Zeiss light microscope, three (3) thermal cyclers PCR machines, one (1) DNA extractor, one (1) RNA extractor, one (1) TissueLyser LT, one (1) biological safety cabinet A2 class, two (2) laminar flow biological safety hoods, four (4) CO2, IR incubators, two (2) refrigerated centrifuges, two (2) micro-centrifuges, three (3) -80°C refrigerators, karyotyping analysis software (Metasystems, Ikaros), Qubit, Nanodrop and other equipment.

Today CERTH includes the following five institutes with indicated major fields of research:

• Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI)
• Sustainable & Clean Energy, Environmental Technologies, Chemical & Biochemical Processes, Advanced Functional Materials
• Information Technologies Institute (ITI)
• Informatics, Telematics and Telecommunication Technologies
• Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT)
• Land, Sea and Air Transportation as well as Sustainable Mobility services
• Institute of Applied Biosciences (INAB)
• Agri-biotechnology, Health Translational Research, Informatics for big bio-data
• Bio-economy and Agro-technology Institute (IBO)
• Agrotechnology, Mechatronics, Biomedicine and Kinesiology

CERTH is essentially a self-supported Research Centre generating an average annual turnover of ~ € 25 Million coming from:

• >30% from bilateral industrial research contracts
• >60% from competitive research projects and
• <10% as government institutional funding

More than 700 people work at CERTH with the majority being scientists.

CERTH has received numerous awards and distinctions such as the European Descartes Prize, the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, Microsoft International Contest Prize, the Trading Agents Competition Award and many more and is listed among the Top-20 of the EU’s Research Centres with the highest participation in HORIZON 2020 competitive research grants.

CERTH has participated successfully in more than 1.200 competitive research projects  (with a total budget exceeding 450 M€ and involving more than 1.100 international partner organizations) financed by the European Union (EU), leading industries from USA, Japan and Europe and the Greek Government via the General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT).

CERTH’s research results (more than 350 publications/year) have significant scientific impact (about 7.100 heterocitations/year).

CERTH is the first Greek research institution recognized by the European Union that respects the principles of the “Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers”.

Mission

• Promotion of the triplet Research – Development – Innovation
• Conduction of High Quality Scientific Research
• Development of Innovative Products and Services
• Strong partnerships with the International & National Industry
• Strong collaboration with Research Centres and Universities in Greece and abroad

Distinctions

Among the many achievements and distinctions of CERTH the following are particularly important:

• The European Commission’s 2006 Descartes Prize  
• European Research Council Advanced Grant (2010)
• Ranking among the top 20 Research Centres in Europe (16th place, up from 18th in 2011) in FP7 competitive grant participation for the period 2007-2012
• The FP7 “Capacities” program, REGPOT Grant (2012)
• 1st Prize in the Microsoft International Contest (2010)
• International Activities Award form the Academy of Sciences/Transportation Research Board (2009)
• Energy Globe Award 2009 for project GROUNDHIT International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) Technical Achievement Award (2006)
• Global 100 Eco-Tech Award at the EXPO 2005

Team Personnel: Assistant Professor Ilias Giannenas, Prof. Panagiota Florou-Paneri, Prof. Efterpi Christaki. Post-doc Researcher: Erasmia Sidiropoulou.

The research team of the LabNutrVetAuth has completed 2 large funded cooperative research projects "Green Poultry" and "GreenPork", as well as several other funded projects in the period of 2012-2018. Also, currently the research team of LabNutrVetAuth is the scientific coordinator for the project “GreenFeeds” and participates in 7 funded competitive national and international research projects on the use of by-products of medicinal and aromatic plants, novel locally produced feedstuffs, environmental friendly farm animal production systems, and international projects with Italy, Albania, China and India.

Curriculum vitae of the members and the main collaborators of LabNutrVetAuth:

Assistant professor Ilias Giannenas (Male), DVM (2000), PhD (2004), DipECPVS (2014), is an Assistant Professor in Aristotle University.   He served as Lecturer at the Veterinary Faculty of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2012-2018) and formerly as Lecturer in the Veterinary Faculty of University of Thessaly (2006-2011). He is particularly interested in issues of applied animal nutrition, the use of aromatic plants, plant extracts and essential oils as alternative growth promoters or natural anticoccidials/antiparasitics. He is co-author of 3 books, 14 book chapters and 60 papers in refereed journals. Dr Giannenas has presented 90 Conference papers. He has been scientific coordinator in 16 research projects and worked also as member of research team in 8 projects, one in EU funded project “3SR” and the Greek-Chinese project “GreenPork”. He served as Reviewer in several journals, is Member of the Editorial Board in 2 international journals and evaluator for several international funded projects. He has been an invited Speaker in several national or international Congresses/Conferences. His work has more than 1300 citations and an h-index : 24. During the summer period of 2017, he has visited the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences of Newcastle University, in association with the Animal Science Group and worked on the interaction between nutrition and immunity to gastrointestinal parasites. In January of 2014, he was named European Diplomate for Poultry by the European College of Poultry Science and he has been granted with prizes from Municipality Nestos, Lemnos and travel grant from World Poultry Association.

Professor Panagiota Florou-Paneri (Female). Her research interested are: investigation into the potential use of various agricultural byproducts in animal nutrition, evaluation of the effect of various feed additives (acidifiers, probiotics, prebiotics, etc) on the performance of productive animals and the quality of their products, investigation into the potential use of various aromatic plants or their extracts alternative to the approved growth promoting antibiotics, investigation into the potential improvement of the quality of animal feed supplementation with special nutritional agents (vitamins, herbs, essential oils, etc), and evaluation of the nutritive value of feedstuffs and their digestibility. She was primary Investigator or member of research team in more than 15 funded research projects and is member in editorial board of more than 15 Scientific Journals, reviewer in more than 40 scientific journals, supervisor and examiner of Master & PhD theses, external examiner of national and international research projects, member of Steering & Organising committees of National and International conferences, and member of national and international scientific organizations and committees. She has published 8 books, 4 chapters in international books, 3 monographs and more than 190 publications/presentation in international conferences / congresses.

Professor Efterpi Christaki, DVM, PhD (Female). Her research interests include: Functional foods and bioactive substances, the uses of various aromatic plants or their extracts as alternative to the approved growth promoting antibiotics, the potential use of various agricultural byproducts in animal nutrition, eEvaluation of the effect of various feed additives (acidifiers, probiotics, prebiotics, etc) on the performance of productive animals and the quality of their products, improvement of the quality of animal feed supplementation with special nutritional agents (vitamins, herbs, essential oils, etc), and evaluation of the nutritive value of feedstuffs and their digestibility. She is a member of Research team in more than 15 funded research projects, member in Editorial Board of more than 15 Scientific Journals, reviewer in more than 80 Scientific Journals, examiner of Master & PhD theses, external examiner / evaluator of National and International research projects, member of Steering & Organising committees of National and International conferences and member of National and International scientific organizations. She has published 7 books, 4 chapters in international books, 2 monographs and more than 180 publications/presentation in international conferences / congresses.

Being well aware of the demands of agricultural production, the company has set up a dedicated technical support and service department after the greenhouse installation. Whenever necessary, the company can respond directly to the repair or maintenance of the equipment, because like all living organisms, agricultural production has the highest demands.

Additionally, the company has the necessary knowledge and equipment / infrastructure to participate in research projects, as evidenced by the past experience of participating in the Green Poultry project.

The Division of Animal Sciences of the Department of Agriculture embodies the basic scientific disciplines that are required for Animal Sciences with emphasis on the application of modern technologies in the fields of animal production, nutrition, genetic improvement, reproduction, and welfare of domestic, companion, exotic and laboratory animals, as well as in Food safety and public health.

During the last two decades, the Division of Animal Science:

• Teaches and develops modern technological and scientific methods, as well as managerial practices, in animal production, in the processing of products of animal origin, and the control of their quality and safety.
• Teaches and develops methods of health management and hygiene in farm facilities, and applies programs in the farm, such biosecurity programs and preventive measurements.
• Teaches and develops methods of good hygiene and practice in animal food packing-processing plants.
• Teaches and develops modern technological and scientific methods focused on enchased productivity and reproductive performance.
• Teaches and develops efficient methods of feed formulation from an economic and scientific perspective.
• Undertakes the environmental and legal problems of stock-breeding businesses and enterprises.
• Participates in the technological research, education and development and application of innovations in the sector of Animal Production.
• Develops innovative production methods for functional foods, such as goat and sheep milk and cheese, and poultry and pig meat.
• Designs and supervises the application of agricultural production studies and organizes the establishment and the production phases of animal production farms.

The Division of Animal Science of the Department of Agriculture participates in the teaching in postgraduate studies, for example on the use of aromatic and pharmaceutical plants in plant and animal production and on aquaculture and fish pathology, in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry University of Ioannina and the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Thessaly.

Research focus areas of the Division of Animal Science include animal health, with particular interest in small ruminants’ mastitis in relation to sheep and goat milk production and their milk quality. A large number of publications in this field reflects the expertise of the Division of Animal Science on indigenous sheep breeds, milk quality, and the several very exciting prospects for animal production in Greece.

The capability of Division of Animal Sciences is reflected on several significant research projects dealing with challenging animal production problems:

• Environmentally friendly animal production, i.e. working on animal production models with lower environmental footprint (Green poultry project; Green pork project; Green feed project; Eco-Fish project; Interreg V Greece-Albania project);
• In vitro and in vivo studies in specific cell lines and animal models in poultry and swine;
• Improved animal feeding through the use of native natural aromatic compounds, phytobiotics and their essential oils, probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, organic acids and clays;
• Examination of intestinal microbiota and animal health in relation to meat health and safety;
• Creation of functional foods in relation with pork and poultry production;
• Proteomic analysis of rare breeds of sheep and goats, milk and food products from indigenous breeds;
• Production of biomaterials and tissue engineering from productive animals;
• Methods to combat microbial resistance and improved animal production with less antibiotic use.

The advancement of the Division of Animal Science in the scientific field is enhanced by the collaboration with major companies in Greece, and well known Institutes and Universities worldwide, and has resulted in a large number of publications in International scientific journals and the procurement of research income which is invested on scientific and laboratory equipment. The Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Hygiene and Quality of the Division of Animal Science is established as a leader in Animal Sciences research with expertise in modern technologies.

Lab Presentation

Download a full presentation of the Laboratory of Animal Health, Food Hygiene and Quality in pdf file by clicking here.