Nektarios Tavernarakis
Nektarios N. Tavernarakis (Greek: Νεκτάριος Ν. Ταβερναράκης) is a bioscientist, who studies Ageing, Cell death, and Neurodegeneration. He is currently Professor of Molecular Systems Biology at the Medical School of the University of Crete, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Foundation for Research and Technology, in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. He is also the founder and first Director of the Graduate Program in Bioinformatics of the University of Crete Medical School, and has served as Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, where he is heading the Neurogenetics and Ageing laboratory. He was  elected Vice President of the European Research Council (ERC) in 2020, and Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Governing Board and Executive Committee in 2022. Biographical information. Nektarios Tavernarakis 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. In 2020, Nektarios Tavernarakis was elected Vice President of the European Research Council (ERC), and in 2022, he became Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Governing Board, He is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Academia Europaea and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is also a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens. His work has received several prominent awards and scientific prizes, including two European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator grant awards (in 2008 and 2016), a European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept grant  award, 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, the Helmholtz International Fellow Award, 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 and scientific achievements. 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 transduction and integration by the nervous system. 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. 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 factors and  co-factors. His laboratory at IMBB was the first to commence "Caenorhabditis elegans" research in Greece. Among the notable discoveries of his team are the sophisticated molecular mechanisms, by which diverse physiological signals are integrated to modulate cellular mitochondrial content, protein synthesis, and energy homeostasis during ageing. These studies revealed intricate signaling pathways that coordinate mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis, to determine the number of mitochondria in cells, under stress and during ageing. Work from his lab implicated autophagy, lysosomal function, endocytosis, intracellular calcium homeostasis and specific proteolytic enzymes as major contributors to necrosis and neurodegeneration. His group developed, for the  first time, experimental heat stroke models; and identified mechanisms protecting against heat cytotoxicity and other necrotic insults. He has isolated and characterized specific ion channels, involved in proprioception and coordinated locomotion, in dopaminergic signalling and associative learning. His team was also the first to delineate the role of autophagy in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and behaviour under nutrient deprivation and stress.