Dr. Katerina Kourentzi

Research Professor

Office Location S185A, Engineering Building 1

Phone 832-842-6301

Fax 713-743-4323

Email edkourentzi [at] uh.edu

Website https://willsonlab.org/

Education

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston (2002)

Diploma Chemical Engineering, National Technical University, Athens, Greece (1996)

Courses

Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics II_CHEE 3333 (Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2009)

Engineering Computing_ CHEE 1331 (Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016)

Research Interests

My research interests lie in the interface of engineering, biotechnology and biomolecular engineering and focus on the translation of molecular recognition fundamentals into the development of novel diagnostic technologies (esp. lateral-flow tests) for the early detection of disease and other detection assays.

Awards & Honors

2007: Roche Younger Investigator Award, Affinity 2007 Conference, International Society for Molecular Recognition

2000: Student Research Poster Award, Sigma Xi, University of Houston Chapter

1999: Hellenic Professional Society of Texas Scholarship for Excellence in Academic Achievement

Professional Activities

2011 - Present: Editorial Board, PLOS ONE

1999 - Present: Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AlChE)

1998 - Present: Member, American Chemical Society (ACS); Division of Biochemical Technology Peterson Award committee co-chair (2003-2005)

Google Scholar

Selected Publications

Brosamer K, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Vu BB., Glowstick-inspired smartphone-readable reporters for sensitive, multiplexed lateral flow immunoassays. Commun Eng. 2:31, 2023
Chabi M, Vu B, Brosamer K, Smith M, Chavan D, Conrad JC, Willson RC, Kourentzi K., Smartphone-read phage lateral flow assay for point-of-care detection of infection. Analyst. 148(4):839-848, 2023
Danthanarayana AN, Nandy S, Kourentzi K, Vu B, Shelite TR, Travi BL, Brgoch J, Willson RC., Smartphone-readable RPA-LFA for the high-sensitivity detection of Leishmania kDNA using nanophosphor reporters. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 17(7):e0011436, 2023
Goux HJ, Vu BV, Wasden K, Alpadi K, Kumar A, Kalra B, Savjani G, Brosamer K, Kourentzi K, Willson RC., Development of a quantitative fluorescence lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) prototype for point-of-need detection of anti-Müllerian hormone. Pract Lab Med. 35:e00314, 2023
Goyal A, Vu B, Maranholkar V, Patil U, Kourentzi K, Willson RC. , Continuous Monitoring of IgG using Immobilized Fluorescent Reporters. Biotechnol Bioeng. 120(2):482-490, 2023
Nandy S, Crum M, Wasden K, Strych U, Goyal A, Maranholkar V, Mo W, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Willson RC. , Protein A-Nanoluciferase fusion protein for generalized, sensitive detection of immunoglobulin G. Anal Biochem. 660: 114929, 2023
Nandy S, Maranholkar VM, Crum M, Wasden K, Patil U, Goyal A, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Mo W, Henrickson A, Demeler B, Sen M, Willson R, Expression and Characterization of Intein-Cyclized Trimer of Staphylococcus aureus Protein A Domain Z. Int J Mol Sci. 24(2):1281, 2023
Vu BB, Brosamer K, McDaniel N, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Fernando, H., “Glow ELISA”: sensitive immunoassay with minimal equipment and stable reagents. Analyst. 148:5582-5587, 2023
Allen GL, Grahn AK, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Waldrop S, Guo J, Kay BK. , Expanding the chemical diversity of M13 bacteriophage. Front Microbiol. 13: 961093, 2022
Chavan D, Adolacion JRT, Crum M, Nandy S, Lee KH, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Sabo A, Willson RC, Isolation and Barcoding of Trace Pollen-free DNA for Authentication of Honey. J Agric Food Chem. 70(43):14084-14095, 2022
Lei R, Vu B, Kourentzi K., Soomro S, Danthanarayana AN, Brgoch J, Nadimpalli S, Petri M, Mohan C, Willson RC., A Novel Technology For Home Monitoring of Lupus Nephritis that tracks the Pathogenic Urine Biomarker ALCAM. Front. Immunol. 113:1044743, 2022
Vu BV, Lei L, Mohan C, Kourentzi K, Wilson RC. , Flash Characterization of Smartphones Used In Point-of-care Diagnostics. Biosensors. 12(12):1060, 2022
Dhamane S, Patil U, Smith M, Adhikari M, Nazem A, Conrad JC, Kourentzi K, Willson RC., Isocratic reporter-exclusion immunoassay using restricted-access adsorbents. Analyst. 146(15):4835-4840, 2021
Patil U, Goyal A, Vu B, Liu Y, Maranholkar V, Kourentzi K, Briggs JM, Willson RC, Antibody mix-and-read assays based on fluorescence intensity probes. MAbs. 13(1):1980178, 2021
Chavan D, Chen H, Crum M, Vu B, Safari M, Smith M , Vekilov P, Conrad JC, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Neutral DNA-avidin nanoparticles as ultrasensitive reporters in immuno-PCR. Analyst, 145(14):4942-4949, 2020
Danthanarayana AN, Finley E, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Brgoch J, A multicolor multiplex lateral flow assay for high-sensitivity analyte detection using persistent luminescent nanophosphors. Analytical Methods, 12, 272-280, 2020
Kourentzi K, Crum M, Patil U, Prebisch A, Chavan D, Vu B, Zeng Z, Litvinov D, Zu Y, Willson RC, Recombinant expression, characterization, and quantification in human cancer cell lines of the Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma-characteristic NPM-ALK fusion protein. Scientific Reports, 10(1): 5078, 2020
Nandy S, Maranholkar VM, Crum M, Wasden K, Patil U, Goyal A, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Mo W, Henrickson A, Demeler B, Sen M, Willson RC., Expression and Characterization of Intein-Cyclized Trimer of Staphylococcus aureus Protein A Domain Z. Int J Mol Sci. 24(2):1281, 2020
Patil U, Crum M, Vu B, Wasden K, Kourentzi K, Willson RC. , Continuous Fc detection for protein A capture process control. Biosens Bioelectron. 165:112327, 2020
Goux HJ, Raja B, Kourentzi K, Trabuco JRC, Vu BV, Paterson AS, Kirkpatrick A, Townsend B, Lee M, Truong VTT, Pedroza C, Willson RC, Evaluation of a nanophosphor lateral-flow assay for self-testing for herpes simplex virus type 2 seropositivity. PLoS One, 14(12): e0225365, 2019
Khodadadi M, Chang L, Trabuco JRC, Vu BV, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Litvinov D, PCB-Based Magnetometer as a Platform for Quantification of Lateral-Flow Assays. Sensors (Basel). 19(24) pii: E5433, 2019
Willson RC, Patil U, Vu BV, Kourentzi E, Crum M., Systems and method for detection of analytes in high volumetric flow applications. WO2019204508A1. 2019-10-24 https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2019204508A1/en, 2019
Chen H, Crum M, Chavan D, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Nanoparticle-Based Proximity Ligation Assay for Ultrasensitive, Quantitative Detection of Protein Biomarkers. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 10(38): 31845-31849, 2018
Goux HJ, Chavan D, Crum M, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Akkermansia muciniphila as a Model Case for the Development of an Improved Quantitative RPA Microbiome Assay. Frontiers in Cellular & Infection Microbiology, 8: 237, 2018
Goux HJ, Raja B, Kourentzi K, Trabuco JRC, Vu BV, Paterson AS, Kirkpatrick A, Townsend B, Lee M, Truong VTT, Pedroza C, Willson RC, Nanoparticle-Based Proximity Ligation Assay for Ultrasensitive, Quantitative Detection of Protein Biomarkers. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 10(38): 31845-31849, 2018
Jacinto MJ, Trabuco JRC, Vu BV, Garvey G, Khodadady M, Azevedo AM, Aires-Barros MR, Chang L, Kourentzi K, Litvinov D, Willson RC, Enhancement of lateral flow assay performance by electromagnetic relocation of reporter particles. PLOS One, 13:e0186782, 2018
Kim J, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Conrad JC, Increasing Binding Efficiency via Reporter Shape and Flux in a Viral Nanoparticle Lateral-Flow Assay. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 9: 6878-84, 2017
Kisley L, Patil U, Dhamane S, Kourentzi K, Tauzin LJ, Willson RC, Landes CF, Competitive multicomponent anion exchange adsorption of proteins at the single molecule level. Analyst, 142 3127-3131, 2017
Liang Y, Chang L, Qiu W, Kolhatkar AG, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Lee TR, Zu Y, Willson R, Litvinov D., Ultrasensitive Magnetic Nanoparticle Detector for Biosensor Applications. Sensors, 17, pii: E1296, 2017
Qiu W, Chang L, Linag YC, Litvinoc J, Guo J, Chen YT, Vu B, Kourentzi K, Xu S, Lee RT, Zu Y, Willson RC, Litvinov D., Spin-Valve based magnetoresistive nanoparticle detector for applications in biosensing. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 265: 174-80, 2017
Raja B, Goux HJ, Marapadaga A, Rajagopalan S, Kourentzi K, Willson RC., Development of a panel of recombinase polymerase amplification assays for detection of common bacterial urinary tract infection pathogens. J Appl Microbiol, 123: 544-555, 2017
Chen H, Hagström AE, Kim J, Garvey G, Paterson A, Ruiz-Ruiz F, Raja B, Strych U, Rito-Palomares M, Kourentzi K, Conrad JC, Atmar RL, Willson RC, Flotation Immunoassay: Masking the Signal from Free Reporters in Sandwich Immunoassays. Scientific Reports, 6: 2497, 2016
Kim J, Poling-Skutvik R, Trabuco JR, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Conrad JC, Orientational binding modes of reporters in a viral-nanoparticle lateral flow assay. Analyst, 142: 55-64, 2016
Kisley L, Poongavanam MV, Kourentzi K, Willson RC, Landes CF, pH-dependence of single-protein adsorption and diffusion at a liquid chromatographic interface. J Sep Sci, 39: 682-8, 2016
Kolhatkar AG, Jamison AC, Nekrashevich I, Kourentzi K, Litvinov D, Brazdeikis A, Willson RC, Lee RT, Enzymatic conversion of magnetic nanoparticles to a non-magnetic precipitate: a new approach to magnetic sensing. Analyst, 141: 5246-5251, 2016
Poongavanam MV, Kisley L, Kourentzi K, Landes C, Willson RC, Ensemble and Single-Molecule Biophysical Characterization of D17.4 DNA Aptamer-IgE Interactions. Biochim Biophys Acta, 864: 154-64, 2016
Raja B, Pascente C, Knoop J, Shakarisaz D, Sherlock T, Kemper S, Kourentzi K, Renzi R F, Hatch AV, Olano J, Peng BH, Ruchhoeft P, Willson RC, An embedded microretroreflector-based microfluidic immunoassay platform. Lab on a chip, 6: 1625-35, 2016
Xie M, Wang S, Singh A, Cooksey TJ, Marquez MD, Bhattarai A, Kourentzi K, Robertson ML, Fluorophore exchange kinetics in block copolymer micelles with varying solvent-fluorophore and solvent-polymer interactions. Soft Matter, 12: 6196-205, 2016
Adhikari M, Strych U, Kim J, Goux H, Dhamane S, Poongavanam MV, Hagstrom AEV, Kourentzi K, Conrad JC, and RC Willson, Aptamer-phage reporters for ultrasensitive lateral flow assays. Anal Chem. 87(23): 11660–11665, 2015
Hagström AE, Garvey G, Paterson AS, Dhamane S, Adhikari M, Estes MK, Strych U, Kourentzi K, Atmar RL, Willson RC, Sensitive detection of norovirus using phage nanoparticle reporters in lateral-flow assay. PLoS One. 10(5): e0126571, 2015
Kolhatkar AG, Dannongoda C, Kourentzi K, Jamison AC, Nekrashevich I, Kar A, Cacao E, Strych U, Rusakova I, Martirosyan KS, Litvinov D, Lee TR, Willson RC, Enzymatic synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles. Int J Mol Sci, 16:7535-50, 2015
Dhamane, S, F Ruiz-Ruiz, WH Chen, K Kourentzi, J Benavides, M Rito-Palomares, and RC Willson, Spermine Sepharose as a clustered-charge anion exchange adsorbent. Journal of Chromatography A, 1324: p. 135-140, 2014
Garvey G, Shakarisaz D, Ruiz-Ruiz F, Hagström AE, Raja B, Pascente C, Kar A, Kourentzi K, Rito-Palomares M, Ruchhoeft P, Willson RC., Microretroreflector-sedimentation immunoassays for pathogen detection. Anal Chem, 86: 9029-35, 2014
Kisley, L, JX Chen, AP Mansur, B Shuang, K Kourentzi, MV Poongavanam, WH Chen, S Dhamane, RC Willson, and CF Landes, Unified superresolution experiments and stochastic theory provide mechanistic insight into protein ion-exchange adsorptive separations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(6): p. 2075-2080, 2014
Kisley, L, JX Chen, AP Mansur, S Dominguez-Medina, E Kulla, MK Kang, B Shuang, K Kourentzi, MV Poongavanam, S Dhamane, RC Willson, and CF Landes, High ionic strength narrows the population of sites participating in protein ion-exchange adsorption: A single-molecule study. Journal of Chromatography A, 1343: p. 135-142, 2014
Kourentzi, K and RC Willson, Nanobiotechnology for Medical Diagnostics. Revista Mexicana De Ingenieria Quimica, 13(1): p. 9-18, 2014
Litvinov, J, AE Hagstrom, Y Lopez, M Adhikari, K Kourentzi, U Strych, FA Monzon, W Foster, PT Cagle, and RC Willson, Ultrasensitive immuno-detection using viral nanoparticles with modular assembly using genetically-directed biotinylation. Biotechnol Lett, 36(9): p. 1863-8, 2014
Paterson AS, Raja B, Garvey G, Kolhatkar A, Hagstrom AE, Kourentzi K, Lee TR, Willson RC, Persistent Luminescence Strontium Aluminate Nanoparticles as Reporters in Lateral Flow Assays. Anal Chem. p.9481-9499, 2014
Wang, YA, A Kar, A Paterson, K Kourentzi, H Le, P Ruchhoeft, R Willson, and JM Bao, Transmissive Nanohole Arrays for Massively-Parallel Optical Biosensing. Acs Photonics, 1(3): p. 241-245, 2014
Adhikari, M, S Dhamane, AEV Hagstrom, G Garvey, WH Chen, K Kourentzi, U Strych, and RC Willson, Functionalized viral nanoparticles as ultrasensitive reporters in lateral-flow assays. Analyst, 138(19): p. 5584-5587, 2013
Cacao, E, T Sherlock, A Nasrullah, S Kemper, J Knoop, K Kourentzi, P Ruchhoeft, GE Stein, RL Atmar, and RC Willson, Helium beam shadowing for high spatial resolution patterning of antibodies on microstructured diagnostic surfaces. Biointerphases, 8, 2013
Cacao, EE, A Nasrullah, T Sherlock, S Kemper, K Kourentzi, P Ruchhoeft, GE Stein, and RC Willson, High-Resolution, High-Throughput, Positive-Tone Patterning of Poly(ethylene glycol) by Helium Beam Exposure through Stencil Masks. Plos One, 8(5), 2013
Jaeger, IS, I Kretzschmar, J Korner, AA Weiser, CC Mahrenholz, A Potty, K Kourentzi, RC Willson, R Volkmer, and R Preissner, Mapping discontinuous protein-binding sites via structure-based peptide libraries: combining in silico and in vitro approaches. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 26(1): p. 23-31, 2013
Kanakaraj, I, WH Chen, M Poongavanam, S Dhamane, LJ Stagg, JE Ladbury, K Kourentzi, U Strych, and RC Willson, Biophysical characterization of VEGF-aHt DNA aptamer interactions. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 57: p. 69-75, 2013
Wang, S, T Sherlock, B Salazar, N Sudheendran, RK Manapuram, K Kourentzi, P Ruchhoeft, RC Willson, and KV Larin, Detection and Monitoring of Microparticles Under Skin by Optical Coherence Tomography as an Approach to Continuous Glucose Sensing Using Implanted Retroreflectors. Ieee Sensors Journal, 13(11): p. 4534-4541, 2013
Daniels, CR, L Kisley, H Kim, WH Chen, MV Poongavanam, C Reznik, K Kourentzi, RC Willson, and CF Landes, Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy study of protein transport and dynamic interactions with clustered-charge peptide adsorbents. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 25(8): p. 435-442, 2012
Chen, WH, JY Fu, K Kourentzi, and RC Willson, Nucleic acid affinity of clustered-charge anion exchange adsorbents: Effects of ionic strength and ligand density. Journal of Chromatography A, 1218(2): p. 258-262, 2011
Daniels, CR, C Reznik, R Kilmer, MJ Felipe, MCR Tria, K Kourentzi, WH Chen, RC Advincula, RC Willson, and CF Landes, Permeability of anti-fouling PEGylated surfaces probed by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Colloids and Surfaces B-Biointerfaces, 88(1): p. 31-38, 2011
Potty, ASR, K Kourentzi, H Fang, P Schuck, and RC Willson, Biophysical characterization of DNA and RNA aptamer interactions with hen egg lysozyme. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 48(3): p. 392-397, 2011
Sherlock, T, A Nasrullah, J Litvinov, E Cacao, J Knoop, S Kemper, K Kourentzi, A Kar, P Ruchhoeft, and R Willson, Suspended, micron-scale corner cube retroreflectors as ultra-bright optical labels. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 29(6), 2011
Ivers, SN, SA Baranov, T Sherlock, K Kourentzi, P Ruchhoeft, R Willson, and KV Larin, Depth-resolved imaging and detection of micro-retroreflectors within biological tissue using Optical Coherence Tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 1(2): p. 367-377, 2010

More Publications

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Mohan, S, K Kourentzi, KA Schick, C Uehara, CA Lipschultz, M Acchione, ME DeSantis, SJ Smith-Gill, and RC Willson, Association Energetics of Cross-Reactive and Specific Antibodies. Biochemistry, 48(6): p. 1390-1398, 2009
Potty, ASR, K Kourentzi, H Fang, GW Jackson, X Zhang, GB Legge, and RC Willson, Biophysical Characterization of DNA Aptamer Interactions with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor. Biopolymers, 91(2): p. 145-156, 2009
Zhang, X, ASR Potty, GW Jackson, V Stepanov, A Tang, Y Liu, K Kourentzi, U Strych, GE Fox, and RCW Willson, Engineered 5S Ribosomal RNAs Displaying Aptamers Recognizing Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Malachite Green. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 22(2): p. 154-161, 2009
Kourentzi, K, M Srinivasan, SJ Smith-Gill, and RC Willson, Conformational flexibility and kinetic complexity in antibody-antigen interaction. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 21(2): p. 114-121, 2008
Peterson, KJ, JD Sadowsky, EA Scheef, S Pal, KD Kourentzi, RC Willson, EH Bresnick, N Sheibani, and SH Gellman, A fluorescence polarization assay for identifying ligands that bind to vascular endothelial growth factor. Analytical Biochemistry, 378(1): p. 8-14, 2008
Taylor, JN, Q Darugar, K Kourentzi, RC Willson, and CF Landes, Dynamics of an anti-VEGF DNA aptamer: A single-molecule study. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 373(2): p. 213-218, 2008
Larios-Sanz, M, KD Kourentzi, D Warmflash, J Jones, DL Pierson, RC Willson, and GE Fox, 16S rRNA beacons for bacterial monitoring during human space missions. Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine, 78(4): p. A43-A47, 2007
Kourentzi, KD, GE Fox, and RC Willson, Hybridization-responsive fluorescent DNA probes containing the adenine analog 2-aminopurine. Analytical Biochemistry, 322(1): p. 124-126, 2003
Kourentzi, KD, GE Fox, and RC Willson, Microbial identification by immunohybridization assay of artificial RNA labels. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 49(3): p. 301-306, 2002
Kourentzi, KD, GE Fox, and RC Willson, Microbial detection with low molecular weight RNA. Current Microbiology, 43(6): p. 444-447, 2001
Hatzinikolaou, DG, E Kourentzi, H Stamatis, P Christakopoulos, FN Kolisis, D Kekos, and BJ Macris, A novel lipolytic activity of Rhodotorula glutinis cells: Production, partial characterization and application in the synthesis of esters. Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, 88(1): p. 53-56, 1999
Christakopoulos, P, E Kourentzi, DG Hatzinikolaou, M Claeyssens, D Kekos, and BJ Macris, Enhancement of pH-stability of a low molecular mass endoglucanase from Fusarium oxysporum by protein pegylation. Carbohydrate Research, 314(1-2): p. 95-99, 1998
Macris, JB, E Kourentzi, and DG Hatzinikolaou, Studies on localization and regulation of lipase production by Aspergillus niger. Process Biochemistry, 31(8): p. 807-812, 1996