Dr. Georgia Chatzinikolaou is joining the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology as a Principal Staff Scientist, with her position established through the EU-funded Horizon Europe WIDERA ERA Chair Programme “Advance Inflammation Research at IMBB-FORTH” (InflaCare). Georgia graduated from the Department of Biology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and completed her Ph.D. in the Laboratory of Histology and Embryology at the School of Medicine, University of Crete. In 2012, she joined Prof. George Garinis’ Laboratory of Genome (In)stability and Mammalian Physiology at IMBB-FORTH as a postdoctoral researcher. During her postdoctoral training, she identified links between irreparable DNA damage and diseases including lipodystrophy, type II diabetes and aberrant growth, and uncovered novel roles for DNA repair factors in the regulation of gene expression and genome organization. Her current research builds on her expertise in genome maintenance and mammalian physiology and expands toward understanding the functional role of genome integrity mechanisms in shaping tissue function and organismal aging, with a focus on immune signaling. Combining mouse genetics with advanced high-throughput approaches and functional validation assays, aims to elucidate how persistent genome instability and defects in DNA repair-associated factors disrupt cellular and tissue homeostasis, contributing to chronic inflammation and age-related pathologies.
Alongside her research, Georgia has developed broad teaching and mentoring experience at the University of Crete, contributing to undergraduate and postgraduate education in Genetics and laboratory animal care and use. She has been supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (2018–2021) and the State Scholarships Foundation (2017–2019) and received the “Fotis Kafatos” Award for Excellence in Biology in 2018. Her research has been published in leading, peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Cell Biology, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology and Cell Metabolism.
