Nektarios N. Tavernarakis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Νεκτάριος Ν. Ταβερναράκης) is a Greek bioscientist, who studies

Ageing Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

Cell death Cell death is the event of a biological cell ceasing to carry out its functions. This may be the result of the natural process of old cells dying and being replaced by new ones, as in programmed cell death, or may result from factors such as dis ...

, and

Neurodegeneration A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Molecular

Systems Biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...

at the Medical School of the

University of Crete The University of Crete (UoC; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης) is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institution in Crete, Greece, located in the cities of Rethymno (official seat) and Heraklion, and one of the country's most aca ...

, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Foundation for Research and Technology, in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, Crete, Greece. He is also the founder and first Director of the Graduate Program in

Bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...

of the

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 The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

(ERC) in 2020,Composition of the ERC Scientific Council on the site of ERC: https://erc.europa.eu/about-erc/erc-president-and-scientific-council and Chairman of the

European Institute of Innovation and Technology The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established in 2008 intended to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT is an integral part of Horizon ...

(EIT) Governing Board and Executive Committee in 2022.Nektarios Tavernarakis appointed EIT Governing Board Chair: https://eit.europa.eu/news-events/news/nektarios-tavernarakis-appointed-eit-governing-board-chair

Early years

Nektarios Tavernarakis was born and grew up in Megali Vrisi, a small village in the municipality of

Gortyn Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna ( el, Γόρτυν, , or , ) is a municipality, and an archaeological site, on the Mediterranean island of Crete away from the island's capital, Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka. Gortyn ...

a, about 30 Km to the south of

, and graduated with honours from the 1st High School of Heraklion (Kapetanakeio).

Biographical information

Nektarios Tavernarakis completed his undergraduate studies at the Department of Biology of the

Aristotle University Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...

, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, Greece (graduated with honours in 1989), and obtained his PhD degree from the Department of Biology of the

, in Heraklion, Greece, having received the best PhD Thesis Award. He trained as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

in New Jersey, USA. He has made notable contributions relevant to

cell death Cell death is the event of a biological cell ceasing to carry out its functions. This may be the result of the natural process of old cells dying and being replaced by new ones, as in programmed cell death, or may result from factors such as dis ...

neurodegeneration A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

and

ageing Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

, documented in the scientific literature. In 2020, Nektarios Tavernarakis was elected Vice President of the

(ERC), and in 2022, he became Chairman of the

(EIT) Governing Board, He is a member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 1,800 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(EMBO), the

European Academy of Sciences European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

(EurASc),

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

, the German National Academy of Sciences-Leopoldina and the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laure ...

(EASA). He is also a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens, and a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

(AAAS). His work has received several prominent awards and scientific prizes, including two

(ERC) Advanced Investigator grant awards (in 2008 and 2016), a

(ERC) Proof of Concept grant award, the

EMBO Embo ( gd, Eurabol, IPA: �iaɾəpɔɫ̪ is a village in the Highland Council Area in Scotland and the former postal county of Sutherland, about north-northeast of Dornoch. On 16 July 1988, Embo declared itself independent from the rest of the ...

Young Investigator award, the International

Human Frontier Science Program } The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) is a non-profit organization, based in Strasbourg, France, that funds basic research in life sciences. The organization implements the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and ...

(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 Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Association, ...

International Fellow Award, the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Resear ...

, 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. He is also the recipient of the Excellence Award, and the Scientific Prize for Medicine and Biology, of the Bodossaki Foundation , which are two of the most competitive scientific distinctions for Greeks, in Greece and abroad. He is the only Greek scientist to have been awarded both these prestigious prizes.

Research and scientific achievements

Nektarios Tavernarakis has contributed to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of necrotic cell death and

, the interplay between cellular

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...

and

, the mechanisms of

sensory transduction In physiology, transduction is the translation of arriving stimulus into an action potential by a sensory receptor. It begins when stimulus changes the membrane potential of a receptor cell. A receptor cell converts the energy in a stimulus into a ...

and integration by the nervous system. He has also contributed towards the development of novel genetic tools for biomedical research, including an

RNA interference RNA interference (RNAi) is a biological process in which RNA molecules are involved in sequence-specific suppression of gene expression by double-stranded RNA, through translational or transcriptional repression. Historically, RNAi was known by o ...

(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 ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

'', and provided original insights on the regulation of these activators by nutrient limitation, and the role of DNA in determining interactions between

transcription factor In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The fu ...

s and co-factors. His laboratory at IMBB was the first to commence ''

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (ro ...

'' research in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. He has published more than 250 papers in

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific journals In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

, such as

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

. His work has received more than 55,000

citations A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

. Among the notable discoveries of his team are the sophisticated molecular mechanisms, by which diverse physiological signals are integrated to modulate cellular

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...

content,

protein synthesis Protein biosynthesis (or protein synthesis) is a core biological process, occurring inside Cell (biology), cells, homeostasis, balancing the loss of cellular proteins (via Proteolysis, degradation or Protein targeting, export) through the product ...

, and energy

homeostasis In biology, homeostasis (British English, British also homoeostasis) Help:IPA/English, (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physics, physical, and chemistry, chemical conditions maintained by organism, living systems. Thi ...

during

. These studies revealed intricate

signaling pathways Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events, most commonly protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases, which ultimately results in a cellular ...

that coordinate

mitophagy Mitophagy is the selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy. It often occurs to defective mitochondria following damage or stress. The process of mitophagy was first described over a hundred years ago by Margaret Reed Lewis and Warren Harmo ...

and

mitochondrial biogenesis Mitochondrial biogenesis is the process by which cells increase mitochondrial numbers. It was first described by John Holloszy in the 1960s, when it was discovered that physical endurance training induced higher mitochondrial content levels, leadin ...

, to determine the number of

mitochondria A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

in cells, under

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

and during

. Work from his lab implicated

autophagy Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Ancient Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-dependent re ...

lysosomal A lysosome () is a membrane-bound organelle found in many animal Cell (biology), cells. They are spherical Vesicle (biology and chemistry), vesicles that contain Hydrolysis, hydrolytic enzymes that can break down many kinds of biomolecules. A ly ...

function,

endocytosis Endocytosis is a cellular process in which substances are brought into the cell. The material to be internalized is surrounded by an area of cell membrane, which then buds off inside the cell to form a vesicle containing the ingested material. E ...

, intracellular calcium

and specific

proteolytic enzymes Proteolysis is the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or amino acids. Uncatalysed, the hydrolysis of peptide bonds is extremely slow, taking hundreds of years. Proteolysis is typically catalysed by cellular enzymes called protease ...

as major contributors to

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated dige ...

and

. His group developed, for the first time, experimental

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...

models; and identified mechanisms protecting against heat

cytotoxicity Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') or brown recluse spider (''Loxosceles reclusa''). Cell physiology Treating cells ...

and other necrotic insults. He has isolated and characterized specific

ion channel Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by gating the flow of io ...

s, involved in

proprioception Proprioception ( ), also referred to as kinaesthesia (or kinesthesia), is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. It is sometimes described as the "sixth sense". Proprioception is mediated by proprioceptors, mechanosensory neurons ...

and coordinated

locomotion Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place. Locomotion may refer to: Motion * Motion (physics) * Robot locomotion, of man-made devices By environment * Aquatic locomotion * Flight * Locomo ...

, in

dopaminergic Dopaminergic means "related to dopamine" (literally, "working on dopamine"), dopamine being a common neurotransmitter. Dopaminergic substances or actions increase dopamine-related activity in the brain. Dopaminergic brain pathways facilitate d ...

signalling and associative

learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...

. His team was the first to delineate the role of

in the regulation of

synaptic plasticity In neuroscience, synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken over time, in response to increases or decreases in their activity. Since memories are postulated to be represented by vastly interconnected neural circuit ...

and behaviour under nutrient deprivation and

. Work in his laboratory also led to the identification of specific nuclear autophagy mediators and the characterization of their role in ageing and germline immortality.

Personal life

Nektarios Tavernarakis is married and the father of two daughters. He is a licensed radio amateur, active mainly in the VHF, UHF and SHF radio bands. His callsign is SV9IOR.

Selected awards and distinctions

* Bodossaki Foundation, Excellence Award (2024) * Member of the

(EurASc), (2023) * Fellow of the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

(FRSB), London, UK (2023) * Chairman of the

(EIT) Governing Board and Executive Committee (2022) * Fellow of the

(AAAS) (2020) * Elected Vice President, Scientific Council of the

(ERC) (2020) * Member of the

(EIT) Governing Board and Executive Committee (2020) * Member of the German National Academy of Sciences-Leopoldina (2019) * Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens (2019) * Member of the

(2018) *

International Fellow Award (2017) * Galien Scientific Research Award (2017) * Honorary Education Business Award (2017) * Member of the Scientific Council of the

(ERC) (2016) *

(ERC), Advanced Investigator Grant award (2016) * Research Support Award, Fondation Santé (2015) * BioMedical Research Excellence Award, Academy of Athens, (2014) * Member of

(2014) * Empeirikeion Foundation, Academic Excellence Prize (2012) * Excellence Professor, Medical School,

(2010) * Member of the

(EMBO) (2009) *

(ERC), Advanced Investigator Grant award (2008) * Foundation for Research and Technology, Research Excellence award (2007) *

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research award (2007) * Member of the

Faculty of 1000 F1000 (formerly "Faculty of 1000") is an open research publisher for scientists, scholars, and clinical researchers. F1000 offers a different research evaluation service from standard academic journals by offering peer-review after, rather than ...

in Biology/Medicine, section on Cellular Death & Stress Responses (2006) * Bodossaki Foundation, Academic Prize in Medicine and Biology (2005) *

(EMBO) Young Investigator (2002–2005) * International

Organization (HFSPO) fellow (1996–2000) * State of New Jersey, Commission on Cancer Research fellow (1996) * Hellenic University Club of New York, Frederick Valergakis, Academic achievement award (1996)

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Google Scholar, Nektarios Tavernarakis

Tavernarakis Lab

Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas

Medical School, University of Crete

Graduate Program in Bioinformatics

University of Crete
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavernarakis, Nektarios Biogerontologists Cell biologists Greek geneticists Greek medical researchers Greek neuroscientists Living people Molecular biologists Greek physiologists Systems biologists Academic staff of the University of Crete University of Crete alumni Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni 1967 births Scientists from Heraklion Members of the Academy of Athens (modern)