Message from the President
Why our mission matters:
We promote interactions to inspire collaborations between biomedical scientists in the USA and Greece.
Board of Directors 2020-2022
President
Alexandra Touroutoglou, Phd
Alexandra Touroutoglou, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. She is a neuroscientist and leads clinical trials to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. She received her PhD from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2010 followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. She is an expert in the use of brain imaging techniques such as functional MRI and a leader in applying these techniques towards understanding the phenomenon of aging. She has been awarded NIH grants to lead clinical trials that use brain imaging to understand how brain atrophy causes symptoms and how brain stimulation leads to symptoms alleviation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. She is the author of highly cited articles in the field of neuroimaging, is committed to teaching, and has won several awards for her work, including a fellowship from Institute of International Education/Fulbright Foundation/ S. Niarchos Foundation in 2016 and 2019, “Woman of the Year” in Greece in 2017 and WIST (Women in Science) fund grant in 2020. Her line of research on “superagers”, a unique group of older adults who despite their age maintain youthful brains has also generated significant attention in the popular press with her findings being featured by the BBC, Huffington Post, and The New York Times.
Vice President
Christos Lisgaras, PhD
Christos Lisgaras completed his undergraduate studies in Applied Biology and Technology at the University of Ioannina in Greece and earned his Ph.D. in Neurophysiology from the same institution. His Ph.D. work focused on the role of the cholinergic neurotransmission and high-frequency neuronal oscillations in hyperexcitability of developmental epilepsies. He was subsequently trained at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and he is currently a Research Fellow at the New York University and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in New York City. His research focuses on Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. Christos returns to the 2020-2022 HBA-USA Board of Directors for a second term.
Treasurer
Andreas Kateifidis, MD, PhD
Andreas obtained his medical and doctoral degrees from the University of Crete in Greece and completed an MBA in Health Sector Management at Boston University, USA. During his doctoral studies, he worked at Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University where he investigated the in vivo and in vitro functions of mutant forms of apolipoprotein A-I to determine how structural changes affect plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels and their contribution to atherogenesis. He additionally developed a method for purification of human apolipoproteins. He is currently a Manager in Process Management and Business Analytics at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. Andreas was introduced to HBA-USA in 2011 and since 2017 he has been serving as Councillor.
General Secretary
Krinio Giannikou, PhD
Krinio Giannikou is an Instructor of Medicine in Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital since September 2020. She completed her undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Crete in Greece. After obtaining her Master and Ph.D. degree in Medical Genetics from the University of Athens in Greece in 2011 and 2014 respectively, she moved to USA to get her first postdoctoral training in Yale University (Neurosurgery Department). She then worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School during 2015-2020. She has also been a Sponsored Research Scientist in Dana Farber Cancer Institute and affiliated member of Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Her current research work focuses on cancer genomics and epigenetics of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and LAM disease, low level mosaicism and mitochondrial DNA analysis. She also applies multi-omics approaches to study Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Neoplasms with metastatic potential with the ultimate goal to identify novel diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and more efficient therapeutic targets. Her research has been awarded by several funding sources including the US Department of Defense, Onassis Foundation and Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance. She is interested in mentoring and enhancing the collaboration and networking among Greeks worldwide. Krinio joined the HBA USA in 2015 and she is currently serving as the General Secretary of the HBA USA.
Appointed Secretary
Maria Stamou, MD, PhD
Maria Stamou has earned her MD and PhD degree from the University of Patras, Greece. After her studies in Medicine, she was accepted at the Reproductive Endocrine Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital, where she completed a post-graduate research fellowship in reproductive endocrinology. She was then trained in Internal Medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital of Harvard Medical School and is now a certified medical physician by the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is currently a clinical and research endocrine fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, taking care of patients with simple and complex endocrine disorders and is specializing in the Genetics of reproductive endocrinology.
Councilor
Charilaos Fillipakis, PhD
Harry Filippakis, Ph.D. is currently an Instructor in Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He received his Ph.D. degree in virology from the University of Crete in 2011 and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Tufts Medical Center and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He has been awarded grants from The LAM Foundation and the Department of Defense to study nutrient uptake mechanisms and lysosomal metabolism in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) and RCC, respectively. His research focuses on elucidating the nutrient uptake mechanisms that regulate lysosomal metabolism LAM and TSC, with the goal to uncover dependencies that could be targeted therapeutically. Harry has published in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of viral oncogenesis, molecular biology and cancer biology. Harry joined HBA-USA in 2021 as a Councillor.
Councilor
Konstantinos Linos, MD, FCAP, FASDP
K.Linos MD, FCAP, FASDP graduated from University of Athens Medical School, Greece in 2002. He completed his residency in Anatomic & Clinical Pathology in Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY. He subsequently completed three fellowships: Oncologic Pathology (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY), Bone & Soft Tissue Pathology ( Emory University, Atlanta, GA) and Dermatopathology (Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Pathology in Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, NH, USA. He practices in the fields of Dermatopathology and Bone & Soft Tissue Pathology and serves as the Director of Bone & Soft Tissue Pathology Division in Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Substitute members
Alex Mitsialis, PhD
(substitute #1)
Filippos Kottakis, PhD
(substitute #2)
Previous Board of Directors
President: Anna Gavrieli, PhD
Vice President: Panagiotis Fotakis, PhD
Treasurer: Andreas Kateifidis, MD PhD
General Secretary 2020: Alexandra Touroutoglou, PhD
Councilor: Drosoula Giantsoudi, PhD, DABR
Councilor & Social Media Coordinator & Public Outreach: Christos Lisgaras, PhD
Ex Officio Member: Sotirios K. Sotiriou, PhD
General Secretary 2019: Eva Tsaousidou, PhD
President: Elisavet Serti (2017-2018) – Georgios Pyrgiotakis (2016-2017)
Vice President: Elisavet Serti (2016-2017) – Georgios Pyrgiotakis (2017-2018)
Treasurer: Anna Gavrieli
General Secretary: Panagiotis Fotakis
App. Secretary: Anastasia Nikolopoulou
Councilors: Andreas Kateifidis, Maria Mavrikaki
President: Kostas Arvanitis
Vice President: Kostas Biliouris
Treasurer: Ioannis Zervantonakis
General Secretary: Elisavet Serti
App. Secretary: Nikolaos Dimitrakakis
Councilors: Eirini Papapetrou, Sotiris Stergiopoulos
President: Ioannis Zervantonakis
Vice President: Anastasia Nikolopoulou
Past Vice-President: Athanassios Vassilopoulos, Runner up: George Noutsios
Treasurer: Eleftherios Makris
General Secretary: Konstantinos Biliouris
App. Secretary: Panteleimon Mavroudis
Councilors: Pavlos Msaouel, Nikolaos Tsirikos-Karapanos
President: T. Thomou
Vice President: S. Sotiriou, A. Vassilopoulos
App. Secretary: E. Filippidi
Treasurer: K. Loupasakis
Councilors: D. Gousetis, A. Nikolopoulou, I. Zervantonakis
President: K. Drosatos
Vice President: T. Thomou
Treasurer: D. Iliopoulos
Gen. Secretary: M. Vassiadi
App. Secretary: E. Ntrivalas
Councilors: D. Gousetis, I. Karagiannidis
President: K. Drosatos
Vice President: D. Iliopoulos
Gen. Secretary: T. Thomou
Treasurer: I. Karagiannides
App. Secretary: E. Ntrivalas
Councilors: K. Bakirtzi, E. Filippidi