The judging committee of the Prix Galien awards is comprised of internationally acclaimed scientists from the field of medicine, genetics, biotechnology, pharmacology, chemistry and molecular biology. The U.S. judging committee has been honoured by the presence of seven Nobel Prize winners. In our country, Greece, the members of the judging committee are the following outstanding personalities:

Honorary President

Dr. Aristeidis Α. Ν. Patrinos is Chief Scientist and Director for Research of the NOVIM Group. During 2012-2015 he directed research at the New York University (NYU) Center for Urban Science and Progress and was Distinguished Industry Professor of the Engineering School. During 2006-2012 he was President of Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI). Dr. Patrinos directed biological and environmental research at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, 1988-2006) including major contributions to the US Global Change Research Program and the Human Genome Project (HGP).
Dr. Patrinos serves on the Board of Directors of Tsakos Energy Navigation (TNP in NYSE) and of Liberty Biosecurity Inc. He is on advisory boards at the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Luna DNA Inc., and several DOE Labs. He consults for the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. At NYU he is now Visiting Scholar at the Center for Neural Science. During 2016, Dr. Patrinos was Senior Advisor to DOE Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz working on joint efforts of DOE with the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Patrinos was a research scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory (1980-1988) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1976-1980). During 1975-1976 he started his career at the University of Rochester as Assistant Professor of Engineering at the U of Rochester. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Astronautical Sciences at Northwestern University in 1975 after receiving his Diploma in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

President

George Chrousos is Professor and Chairman at the First Department of Pediatrics, Athens University Medical School and holds the seat of UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Healthcare. In 2011, he held the distinguished John Kluge Chair in Technology and Society. He has served as Chief of the Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University. He has authored more then 650 scientific publications, his papers have been cited in more than 57,000 publications. He is one of the scientists with the highest citations in the world and is included in the ISI list of the highly cited in Clinical Medicine. Mr. Chrousos is a Master of the American College of Physicians and of the American College of Endocrinology and Fellow of the UK Royal College of Physicians. Among others, he is Doctor Honoris Causa of the Universities of Liege, Ancona and Patras. He has received many international awards and has been awarded the Bodossaki Aristeion Prize. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy and of the Academy of Europe.

Members

Theodoros Vasilakopoulos is Professor of Pulmonology – Intensive Care at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Adjunct Professor at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He received his medical degree and his doctorate from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and completed postgraduate studies and postdoctoral studies at the Laboratory of Respiratory Physiopathology (Laboratoire Physiopathologie) Marseille in France and the Critical Care Division, Royal Victoria Hospital and the Meakins-Christie Laboratories at McGill University in Montreal, Canada (professor SN Hussain). He has chaired the Long Range Planning Committee and the Acute Critical Care Group of the Respiratory Intensive Care Assembly of the European Pulmonary Society (ERS). He has also been a member of the Critical Care Assembly of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) as a Program Committee Member (2003-2008) and as a Planning Committee Member (2006-2007). He is a reviewer in more than 30 international journals and has been a member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (official journal of the American Thoracic Society) and the Intensive Care Medicine (official journal of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine), in which he was also an associate editor. He is currently an associate editor at the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Canadian Respiratory Journal. His research focuses on the release of the patient from the ventilator and the consequences of increased airway-bronchospasm resistance (seen in severe exacerbations of COPD and asthma) in the lung, diaphragm and respiratory center in both the human and respiratory center. He was a member of the National Council for Research and Technology (ESET), and special and general secretary of the Hellenic Pulmonary Society (EPE). He has been in charge of the Intensive Care Units and Pulmonology Units of the First University Intensive Care Clinic of the University of Athens at Evangelismos Hospital, while today he is the director of the Third University Intensive Care Clinic of the University of Athens at Eugenides Hospital and Eugenides Hospital.

Dr Efstathios Gonos graduated from the Department of Pharmacy, University of Athens, Greece in 1984, obtained his Ph.D. at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow, Britain in 1989 and a Docent in Biomedicine at the Orebro University, Medical School, Sweden in 2011. From 1989 to 1993 he worked as a Research Scientist at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in London, Britain. Since 1994 he has been the group leader (and Director of Research since 2002) of the Department of ”Molecular and Cellular Aging” in NHRF/IBMCB that focuses on the genetic and environmental factors that are linked to human aging and longevity. He is funded by competitive grants awarded by the European Union, the Hellenic General Secretariat of Research & Technology as well as by private sources. He has published more than 120 research articles in eminent journals (> 4,000 citations), is author of 14 monographs and patents holder that have resulted in the development of novel anti-aging products. He has been invited to give lectures at more than 100 international Conferences (Gordon Conferences, UNESCO, FEBS, EMBO, IUBMB, EuroConference, European Parliament etc), has been co-organizing the EMBO/FEBS Spetses Summer Schools since 1999 and has organized, among others, the 2nd EuroConference on ”Biological Ageing”, the 12th International Association of Biomedical Gerontology Congress, the “Society of Free Radical Research Europe” annual Conference and the IUBMB Focused Meeting on “Molecular Aspects of Aging and Longevity”. Dr. Gonos has received fellowships from the University of Glasgow, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Royal Society of G. Britain and was honored with the ”Hans Selye” award. He teaches in the post-graduate courses of Hellenic Universities and he is/has been co-supervisor of 15 Ph.D. theses. He has been a ”Senior expert” of E.U. in ”Human development and the aging process” and Deputy National Representative of Greece in E.U. in ”Genomics and Biotechnology for Health”. He is evaluator of several international organizations (European Union, UNESCO, Cancer Research U.K., Medical Research Council U.K., Austrian Science Fund, Italian Association for Cancer Research, Spanish Ministry of Health, Association for International Cancer Research etc), member of the Executive Committee of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB), past-member of the Advanced Course Committee of Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), past member of the Board of Directors of the ”Society of Free Radicals Research-Europe”, Editor-in-Chief of ”Mechanisms of Aging & Development” and Editorial Board member of ”Experimental Gerontology”, ”Free Radicals Research”, “IUBMB Life”, “Redox Biology”, “Ageing Research Reviews”, ”Aging Cell” (-2007), ”Biogerontology” (-2009) and ”Molecular Aspects of Medicine” (-2016).

Achilleas Gravanis, Professor of Pharmacology Medical School University of Crete. Researcher Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology FORTH, Affiliated Research Professor Center of Drug Discovery Northeastern University Boston. Served as Member and Chairman of many research committees of the European Union, Member of the Fellowships Committee Federation European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), Member of the Council, Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Chairman of Bioscience Committee, Hellenic National Council of Research & Technology. Elected Member of the Scientific Board, Hellenic Foundation of Research & Innovation. Member of the Editorial Board and Reviewer of many international scientific journals. Co-founder of biotechnology spinoff Bionature Ltd, Collaborating Scientist, Emulate (Harvard spinoff). He has published more than 135 papers in PubMed (h-Index:44).

Nikos K. Moschonas is a professor of Medical Molecular Genetics and Director of the Laboratory of General Biology of the School of Medicine, University of Patras. He has studied biology and molecular genetics in the universities of Patras, Athens, Harvard and in the UK at the National Institute of Medical Research and Medical Research Council. He has served as professor in the Faculty of Biology in the University of Crete while at the same time he was an associate researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (ΙΜΒΒ) FORTH-Hellas. In 2004, he was elected Professor in the Medical School of the University of Patras. He focuses on matters of molecular genetics with emphasis on the analysis of the molecular basis of genetic diseases and human functional genomics. His team participated in the international program for the analysis of the human genome (Human Genome Project). He has coordinated a plethora of programs and has published papers in international journals and 57 full original articles. He has prefaced four, and was the scientific editor in the Greek editions of three university textbooks of an international level. He was appointed member of various scientific committees of the European Union, Deputy Member of the National Council for Research and Technology and was the National Delegate EU Framework7 “Cooperation-Health” Programme Committee.

Kleomenis Barlos is a professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of Patras. He has developed pioneering methods in the synthesis of peptides and proteins using special polymers based on trityl resins, a fact that is internationally acclaimed as a major step in peptides’ and proteins’ synthesis to the large scale. More specifically, the resin also known as “Barlos Resin”, is considered the most important development internationally in the field of resins and was characterized as groundbreaking in the advancement of solid-phase synthesis of drugs and an extremely efficient tool in the discovery of new drugs. Already, Barlos Resin is used for the manufacture of more than 2,000 new drugs. In 1989, he founded the company CBL in Patras which specializes in producing materials with applications in the synthesis of peptides and proteins.

Andreas Papapetropoulos is a Pharmacist. He earned his PhD in Pharmacology at the Medical College of Georgia, USA and continued his training as a postdoctoral researcher at the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine at Yale University. Upon his return to Greece, he first served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nursing at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and then as a Professor in the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Patras before returning the NKUA in 2013. He is also an Αffiliated Ιnvestigator at the Institute of Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of drug action and the preclinical evaluation of drugs. He has published 170 publications in peer reviewed journals that have received 20,000 citations (h-index 59). He has been Adjunct/Visiting Professor at European (Maastricht University) and North American Universities (McGill University, LSU, UTMB, UMDNJ). He is a member of the editorial boards of journals published by the British and American Pharmacological Societies and the American Heart Association and a reviewer for more than 60 international journals and 26 private and state funding bodies in Europe, America and Asia. He has been elected Fellow of the American Society of Cardiology and the British Society of Pharmacology, and Secretary General of the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR).

Despina Sanoudou (PhD FACMG) is Associate Professor in Pharmacogenomics at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Head of the Clinical Genomics and Pharmacogenomics Unit at the 4^th Department of Internal Medicine, and collaborating Faculty at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK, and worked at the Harvard Medical School where she became Instructor in 2003. She is Board Certified in Clinical Molecular Diagnostics by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics and has worked at genetic diagnostic laboratories of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston. She has served as Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine, Visiting Scholar at the Boston University Department of Medicine, and Co-ordinator of the International Genomics and Pharmacogenomics Program of the Sir Magdi Yacoub Research Network. Her research work focuses on deciphering pathogenetic mechanisms in cardiovascular disease and the development of precision medicine therapeutic approaches. She has over 100 publications in scientific journals and books, and over 400 oral and written presentations at international meetings. She serves on the evaluation committees of 20 international and national funding organizations, as Associate Editor in the Metabolism journal, in the editorial boards and reviewer teams of 50 other international scientific journals. Dr Sanoudou has received multiple awards for her contribution to science including the Greek L’Oreal-UNESCO award, the European Society of Human Genetics, the American Society of Human Genetics, and more.

Evangelos Terpos is a Professor of Hematology and Director of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Unit in the Department of Clinical Therapeutics of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece. His main research interest is the biology of plasma cell dyscrasias and especially the biology of bone disease in multiple myeloma. In more than 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals, Dr Terpos has reported the significant role of RANKL and osteoprotegerin axis, CCL-3, Wnt and TGF-beta signaling in myeloma bone disease and myeloma cell growth. He has studied the predictive value of markers of bone remodeling and osteoclast function in myeloma progression and patients’ survival. Dr Terpos has evaluated the effect of bisphosphonates and different anti-myeloma therapies including ASCT, IMiDs-, proteasome inhibitor- and daratumumab-based regimens on bone metabolism. He has studied the biology and prevalence of osteonecrosis of the jaw in myeloma patients who receive bisphosphonates and denosumab as well as the role of modern imaging (including whole-body low-dose CT and DWI-MRI) for myeloma. In the clinical research era, Dr Terpos also studies the role of minimal residual disease (MRD) in multiple myeloma, and he participates in many important clinical trials with novel agents in the field of multiple myeloma. Dr Terpos has more than 20,000 citations and an h-index of 70 in Web of Knowledge/ISI. Dr Terpos is co-chairing the Bone Subgroup of the International Myeloma Working Group and the Guideline Subgroup of the European Myeloma Network. Dr Terpos has given lectures at ASH, ASCO, EHA meetings and International Myeloma Workshops. He is Associate Editor of HemaSphere (official journal of EHA) for Myeloma and member of the editorial board of Haematologica.

George Pentheroudakis  (born 3/12/1967) holds an MD degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (1991). He specialized in Internal Medicine in Thessaloniki, Greece (1993-1999). He trained in Medical Oncology at the Beatson Oncology Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom (1999-2002). Returning to Greece, he developed an academic carreer as a Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Department of Medical Oncology, University of Ioannina, Greece, that he chaired as Professor of Oncology since 2016. His main research interests are gastrointestinal cancer, cancer of unknown primary, translational cancer research and new drug development. Since August 2020, Professor Pentheroudakis serves as Chief Medical Officer of the European Society for Medical Oncology and is based in Lugano, Switzerland.
He is a member ESMO, ASCO, has (co)-authored 323 PubMed-indexed peer-reviewed research papers and speaks Greek, English, French and Italian.

Alexander J. Stratigos, MD is a Professor of Dermatology-Venereology at the University of Athens (Greece) and Chairman of the 1st Department of Dermatology-Venereology of the Andreas Sygros Hospital since 2020. He is also the Director of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Center, Andreas Sygros Hospital, and a Visiting Scientist at the Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. His clinical and research interests include melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, with particular emphasis to their epidemiology, prevention and treatment. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 articles on Melanoma and Skin Cancer, Psoriasis, Cutaneous Photosensivity and Lasers and is an editorial board member of various international journals. He has experience in more than twenty clinical trials PHASE II-III as a principal investigator. Dr. Stratigos has held administrative and committee positions in several professional societies, including the EADO (current Vice-President} and the Hellenic Society of Dermatology-Venereology. He is currently the immediate Past-President of the European Academy of Dermatology-Venereology, the biggest professional dermatological society in Europe.