dr. F (Fotini) Kokou

I am a biologist, interested in the interactions between fish and their microbiome. I completed my studies in the Department of Biology at the University of Crete and worked in several European, national and industry-funded projects at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Greece (HCMR). After completing my PhD, I joined as a postdoctoral researcher the Agriculture Research Organization in collaboration with the National Institute for Biotechnology (NIBN – Ben Gurion University of the Negev) in Israel. My work there mainly involved the study of microbial interactions within the fish gut, as well as evaluating the impact of environmental factors (temperature, diet, gut digesta conditions), host genetic background and stress response on the associated microbial communities. 

Since January 2020 I joined the Aquaculture and Fisheries group in WUR as an Assistant Professor. My research interests focus on understanding the role and contribution of microbes to fish physiological functions in relation to nutrition, health and the rearing environment, utilizing principles from physiology, microbial ecology, and genomics.

Supervisor of PhD candidates Elisavet Syropoulou and Haniswita Fino