Chrysoula Pitsouli.

Dr Pitsouli received her BSc degree in Biology at the University of Crete in 1998, and then obtained her MSc and PhD degrees in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the same University in 2000 and 2005, respectively. She was trained in cell signaling, Drosophila genetics, molecular biology and microscopy, while studying the role of endocytosis in cell communication driving pattern formation and neuronal primordial specification. Then, she was awarded an EMBO long-term fellowship and moved to Harvard Medical School in Boston for her postdoctoral research.

During her time at Harvard, she pioneered work on tubular organ developmental remodeling in Drosophila, introduced pathogenic bacteria in studies of intestinal regeneration and was involved in establishing genetic and imaging techniques. She received a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant in 2012, where she established the Drosophila Development and Homeostasis Laboratory. Her research focuses on understanding organismal development, homeostasis and disease (e.g. cancer), and how these processes are controlled by genes, the environment and diet at the molecular and cellular levels. She has published high-impact publications in international scientific journals including Nature Cell Biology, Developmental Cell, PNAS, Cell Reports, Development, which have accumulated more than 2400 citations.

She is committed to teaching and training the next generation of researchers in Cyprus. As the coordinator of the Postgraduate Committee, she has worked intensively towards the restructuring of the post-graduate programs of the Department of Biological Sciences. As a founding member of the SBSCy, she wishes to see this society flourish.