Stamatiki Kritas always had a fascination with the sciences, particularly medical sciences. She was spurred by the knowledge that she could potentially develop and find new therapies that could be life changing. She couldn’t resist this calling.
“I did a science degree as it gives you a variety of options and you can do a lot of cool things like astronomy, psychology, chemistry and physics. In my second and third year I decided to concentrate on more medical subjects for a medical science career,” she said. Australian born second-generation Greek, Stamatiki and her family went back to Greece when she was five years-old.
Her formative years were spent in Greece, where she also completed most of her education. She studied English as a second language in the village her dad is from in the Peloponnesian region. Her and her family moved back to Australia when she was 18 years-old. “I came to Australia in 1997 and went straight into Year 12 at Plympton High School,” said Stamatiki. “I always had an interest in science, especially in medical science because of the thought of developing new therapies and doing good for the world. I did a science degree as it gives you a variety of options and you can do a lot of cool things like astronomy, psychology, chemistry and physics. In my second and third year [of university], I decided to concentrate on more medical subjects for a medical science career.”
While studying her Bachelor of Science at the University of Adelaide, Stamatiki came across the Summer Vocational Scholarships that were offered. “In my second year of university I thought I would do a Summer scholarship for 6 to 8 weeks as a project and try to get some work to save some money to go Greece. I happened to get a project in the gastroenterology department of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. I stayed on during my third year and then the department requested that I be placed there and then kept working there. I did my honours and PhD and now I am working in the department as a scientist.” Her PhD focuses on the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is a bug that causes gastric ulcers.
The bacterium was first discovered by Australian doctors, Dr Barry Marshall and Dr Robert Warren, and in recognition of this discovery they were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “My PhD is almost complete, I have finished but I am writing it up. The focus is Helicobacter pylori, which is a bug that causes gastric ulcers. My PhD focuses on new treatments for the infection which are non-drug based. So trying to find non-pharmaceutical compounds that could have an action against Helicobacter pylori. “There was a whole thought that gastric ulcers were produced by spicy food or medication. But in the 1980s it was discovered that it was made by the Helicobacter pylori bacterium which means that the bacterium can be a persistent infection all your life and never cause a symptom or it can lead to gastric ulcers and then to gastric cancer.
In Australia, the rates are probably not very big but in third world countries at the moment the infection rates can be up to 90 percent of the population and around 50 percent of the world is infected.” Stamatiki said although this isn’t a huge problem in Western countries, there is another potential threat. “The problem remains that because these therapies are antibiotics, you can have an antibiotic resistance so there are a lot of people that don’t respond to that therapy anymore. So that’s why we are trying to find new ways to treat Helicobacter pylori.
Our research is to find new ways of treating Helicobacter especially by modifying gastric motility, the rate food empties from the stomach. If we can modify the contact time of the therapy with the bug then maybe we can produce better therapies. “Helicobacter pylori is a big problem in places like Vietnam which is in the vicinity of Australia. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel and present my work all around the world, in Europe, in South America, in the United States,” she said. And it’s not just Helicobacter pylori that takes up all of Stamatiki’s time in the gastroenterology department of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. “At the moment, I am in involved in studies looking at infantile gastroesophageal reflux disease specifically looking at new therapies both as well as swallowing disorders in children with neurological disease.”
Apart from her medical research, Stamatiki takes on the role that most second-generation Greek Australians do and that is as an ambassador for Greek culture, traditions, food and music in the community. “For the past four years I have been president of the South Australian Council for the Greek Cultural Month Inc. which produces the annual festival every year, Festival Hellenika,” she said. The festival runs from March to May with more than 30 events organised. Some highlights include: Under an Athens moon – a selection of the finest melodic and romantic songs by Greek composers and influenced by the bright Athenian moon; a musical workshop titled ‘The role of percussion in Greek music’; and the classical Greek columns walk guided by Spiros Sarris, President of the SA Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute of Athens. Needless to say, this festival keeps Stamatiki busy all year around but something deep inside tells me she doesn’t mind one bit.