Dr. Eleni N. Kavetsou is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Food Science and
Human Nutrition at the Agricultural University of Athens. She is a Chemical Engineer
(National Technical University of Athens, 2008–2013), holds a Master’s degree in
“Techno-Economic Systems (MBA)” from the University of Piraeus & NTUA, and a PhD in
Synthetic Organic Chemistry and Nanotechnology (NTUA). Her doctoral research was
supported by scholarships from the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) for
postgraduate studies in Greece (MIS-5003404) and the Special Account for Research
Funding of NTUA. She also carried out part of her research activity at the Royal Institute
of Technology in Stockholm (KTH University) in 2021.
In 2026, she received research funding from HFRI (ELIDEK) for the implementation of a
two-year research project (2026–2028), for which she serves as the Principal
Investigator. From 2019 to 2025, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher on 18
national and European research projects (EPAnEK 2014–2020 & HORIZON 2020), while
also contributing to the development of new innovative commercial products based on
natural products, in collaboration with Greek companies (Benostan, CHRISTOU 1910).
In addition, she participated in COST Action CA18132, as a Management Committee
substitute. She is a reviewer for international scientific journals and has served as a
Topic Editor and Guest Editor for the international scientific journal “Pharmaceutics”.
Her research interests focus on: (a) the synthesis of natural product analogues using
environmentally friendly methodologies and the study of structure–biological activity
relationships (natural products chemistry, heterocyclic chemistry, and medicinal
chemistry); (b) the optimization of innovative extraction methods for natural products
from plant raw materials; and (c) the development of micro-/nanomaterials (polymeric,
lipid, inorganic, and hybrid nanoparticles, as well as hydrogels) for biomedical
applications (drug delivery systems), cosmetics, and food applications. Part of her
research work has been published in peer-reviewed international journals (24
publications), with an h-index of 13 and > 650 citations, and she has participated and
received awards at 68 national and international conferences.
Assist. Professor of Instrumental Analysis and Organic Chemistry
Postdoctoral research:
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego (UCSD)
- Department of Chemistry, NKUA
Awards:
- Hildegard widow “Leonidas Zervas” award, the Academy of Athens 2018.
- Award from the National Council of Greek Women 2019.
- 2023 L’ Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science
World Ranking 2% of the Top Scientists throughout the world (2021)
Research Interests
a) Development of new methods for qualitative and quantitative determination of organic compounds and lipid analysis by liquid chromatography combined with modern techniques, such as mass spectrometry. Applications in the study of natural and non-natural components of food and biological fluids (eg milk, royal jelly, vegetables, serum, cell cultures). Targeted and non-targeted analysis.
b) Structure elucidation of organic compounds and study of organic reactions mechanisms by mass spectrometry - high resolution HRMS and MS/MS analysis through the fragmentation of organic compounds.
c) Study of organic compounds as inhibitors of enzyme activity and stability studies with LC-MS in plasma - pharmacokinetics.
Dimitris Matiadis is an Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition of the Agricultural University of Athens since November 2024. He graduated from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Ioannina in 2005 and completed his Ph.D. at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 2013. From 2013 to 2021, as a postdoctoral researcher at the NTUA, NHRF and NCSR “Demokritos” he focused on the design and synthesis of bioactive organic compounds, such as heterocycles and cyclic peptides, as well as inorganic molecules. In parallel, during 2019-2025, he worked as an Adjunct Professor at the University of West Attica.
As Principal Investigator, he has received three research grants (RSC Research Fund 2025-2026, IKY-SIEMENS 2015–2017 and IKY Postdoctoral Researchers Enhancement 2019–2021). As a member of research teams, he has worked on two projects, "Thales" and "KREPIS". He is an external participant of a COST Innovators Grant (2025-2026)
He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Association of Greek Chemists, and the European Peptide Society.
Since 2019, he has been an evaluator of scientific proposals for the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia and, since 2023, a member of the RSC Researcher Grants Peer Review Group.
He serves as a reviewer for international scientific journals published by Wiley, Springer Nature, RSC, Cell Press, Taylor & Francis, and others.
He has 37 publications in international scientific journals (2020–2024: 21 articles), an h-index of 13, and >500 citations of his work (>400 excluding self-citations of all authors).
Current Research:
- Synthesis of molecules based on natural products and their analogs to investigate their properties and structure-activity relationships concerning anticancer, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, insecticidal, or other biological activities.
- Design and synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, such as pyrazolines and pyrimidines, and study of their biological or physicochemical properties.
- Development of new chemosensors for the detection and determination of anions, cations, or neutral molecules with applications in food, the environment, cells, or biological fluids.
Professor on Instrumental Chemical Analysis of Natural Products.
Research Interests:
• Isolation, purification and structure determination of natural products using chromatographic (GC-MS/MS, LC-UV/Vis-MS/MS) and spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis, FT-IR, FT-Raman, NMR).
• Development of new techniques for separation, evaluation and analysis of main compounds of plants cultivated in Greece as Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs), Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) etc.
• Study of Biological Activity of Natural Products (Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Toxicity etc.)
• Instrumental analysis methods of plants and food analysis.
• FT-IR & Raman Spectroscopic study of microorganisms.
• Development methods for quality determination, adulteration and authenticity (botanical and geographical origin) of food (honey, olive oil etc).
Publications in International Journals (Scopus 2024.06.01): 182, 2020-2024: 49
(Articles: 155; Reviews: 14; Conference Papers: 10; Editorial: 2; Erratum 1.
Citations (Exclude self-citations of all authors): 8340; Subtotal 2020-2024: 3327.
h-index: 52
Mr Emmanuel A. Bouzas graduated from Chemistry Department of the University of Patras and acquired his PhD in Organic Synthesis at the Laboratory of General Chemistry of Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) and the Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Bioorganic Chemistry of the National Center for Scientific Research (NCSR) "Demokritos". He is member of the Laboratory Teaching Staff at the Laboratory of General Chemistry of AUA with the research activity "Organic Chemistry with emphasis on the Synthesis of Natural Products". His teaching work mainly concerns laboratory exercises of the undergraduate courses General & Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Instrumental Chemical Analysis and Natural Products: Chemistry and Bioactivity. His research work comprises 5 scientific publications in peer-reviewed international journals, 13 conference presentations and 1 laboratory text book.
Mrs Dimitra Daferera graduated from Department of Agricultural Industries, now Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition of Agricultural University of Athens (A.U.A.), she acquired Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences, and she is member of the Laboratory Teaching Staff at the Laboratory of General Chemistry of A.U.A. with research activity “Instrumental Analysis of Natural Products”.
She is teaching lab exercises of the courses Instrumental Chemical Analysis, General and Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Natural Products: Chemistry and Bioactivity, and she is supporting undergraduate and postgraduate students to carry out their diploma study and/or their practical exercise.
Her research interests focus on aromatic and medicinal plants, emphasizing the isolation and study of their secondary metabolites, concerning their chemistry and bioactivity. She has participated in 18 research programs, and her research work comprises 104 publications, 34 to national and international conferences, and 70 in international scientific journals which present a high number of citations (excluding self-citations).