Ektario

Biography

 He completed his undergraduate studies at the Department of Biology of the Aristotle University, in Thessaloniki, Greece, and obtained his PhD degree from the Department of Biology of the University of Crete, in Heraklion, Greece. He trained as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry of Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. He has made notable contributions relevant to cell death, neurodegeneration and ageing, documented in the scientific literature.[3][4] He is a member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC),[5] the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)[6] and Academia Europaea.[7]His work has received several prominent awards and scientific prizes, including two European Research Council(ERC) Advanced Investigator grant awards (in 2008 and 2016),[8][9] a European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept grant award,[10] the EMBO Young Investigator award, the International Human Frontier Science Program(HFSP) long-term postdoctoral fellowship, the BioMedical Research Award of the Academy of Athens, the Valergakis Post-Graduate Award of the Hellenic University Club of New York, the Galien Scientific Research Award,[11] the Helmholtz International Fellow Award,[12] the Bodossaki Foundation Scientific Prize for Medicine and Biology, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel research award, the Research Excellence award of the Foundation for Research and Technology, and the Empeirikeion Foundation Academic Excellence Prize, among others.

Research Interest

Nektarios Tavernarakis has contributed to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of necrotic cell death and neurodegeneration, the interplay between cellular metabolism and ageing, the mechanisms of sensory transductionand integration by the nervous system.[13][14] He has also contributed towards the development of novel genetic tools for biomedical research, including an RNA interference (RNAi) method that allows efficient knockdown of neuronal genes.[15] His PhD Thesis research focused on the expression and function of key stress response transcriptional activators in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and provided original insights on the regulation of these activators by nutrient limitation, and the role of DNA in determining interactions between transcription factorsand co-factors.