Garyfalia Karponi is a Molecular Biologist-Geneticist (Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace), with a PhD in Medical Genetics (Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace) and a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics (Hellenic Open University). She has worked in gene therapy research for more than 12 years, actively participating in preclinical and clinical gene therapy studies for thalassemia and glioblastoma and receiving further training at renowned centres in the USA (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she did part of her doctoral research, Fred Hutch, University of Washington, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland).

At post-doctoral level, she was awarded a scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) for the School of Veterinary Medicine at AUTH. She also gained extensive experience in higher education, teaching as a lecturer at Metropolitan College in Thessaloniki, in partnership with British universities (University of East London, Queen Margaret University). Her research includes over 80 publications/congress abstracts, many of which have been published in high-impact scientific journals and received awards both in Greece and internationally.

She is the Chief Scientific Officer of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, where she implements, organises and supervises all cutting-edge diagnostic methods, with an emphasis on Molecular Oncology. She also participates in external quality control schemes and is a member of an interdisciplinary oncology board.