Nektarios Tavernarakis is a Research Director (Professor) at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, heading the Caenorhabditis elegans molecular genetics laboratory. He earned his PhD degree at the University of Crete, studying gene expression regulation in yeast, and trained in C. elegans genetics and molecular biology at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA. His research focuses ... Read moreon studies of neuronal function and dysfunction, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. His main interests are the molecular mechanisms of necrotic cell death in neurodegeneration and senescent decline, the molecular mechanisms of sensory transduction and integration by the nervous system, the interplay between cellular metabolism and aging, and the development of novel genetic tools for C. elegans research. He is the recipient of a European Research Council (ERC ) Advanced Investigator grant award, a European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Young Investigator award, an International Human Frontier in Science Program Organization (HF SPO) long‑term award, the Bodossaki Foundation Scientific Prize for Medicine and Biology, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel research award, and is member of EMBO. Show Less