Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis is Professor of Molecular Systems Biology at the Medical School of the University of Crete, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). He also serves as Research Director at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB-FORTH), where he leads the Neurogenetics and Ageing Laboratory. He is the founding Director of the Graduate Program in Bioinformatics at the University of Crete.

Prof. Tavernarakis is internationally recognised for his research on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, necrotic cell death, the interplay between metabolism and ageing, sensory transduction, and the development of innovative genetic tools for biomedical research. His work has been widely published in top-tier scientific journals and has received substantial competitive funding from the European Union, international agencies, and the Greek Government.

He currently chairs the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and has previously served as Vice President of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) and Director of IMBB-FORTH. He is a Member of numerous prestigious academies and organisations, including EMBO, AAAS, Academia Europaea, the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc), the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), and the Academy of Athens.

Among many accolades, Prof. Tavernarakis has been awarded two ERC Advanced Grants, one ERC Proof of Concept Grant, the EMBO Young Investigator Award, the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award (AvH Foundation), the Helmholtz International Fellow Award, the Galien Scientific Research Award, and major national prizes such as the Bodossaki Foundation Prize and the Academy of Athens Biomedical Research Award.

Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division since December 2023, for the mandate December 2023 – November 2026 (current and first term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).