Title:

Leadership, Science and Social Welfare

Lecturer:

Despina Sanoudou, PhD, FACMG, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens & Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens

Language:

Greek

Collaboration with:

Harvard Club of Greece

Synopsis of the lecture:

“Science” is the deep, organized and documented knowledge of an object of research. Essential and continuous engagement with a science broadens knowledge and cultivates at the same time a combination of special features that ultimately give scientists a distinct role in society. What are these characteristics and how can they contribute to Social Welfare? What is the relationship between Leadership and Science? What impact does the form of this relationship have on Society? The lecture by Despina Sanoudou seeks answers to these questions, their alternatives, and their perspectives.

Short bio of the lecturer:

Despina Sanoudou studied in England, received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, and worked at Harvard University’s Medical School in Boston, where she became a Lecturer in 2003. At the same time, she received a Clinical Molecular Diagnostics specialty from the American Board of Medical Genetics and worked at the genetic diagnostic centers of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Children’s Hospital. In 2004 she returned to Greece as a Researcher at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens. She is currently Associate Professor at the Medical School of the University of Athens, where she focuses on the characterization of molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis with emphasis on the emergence and progression of heart diseases and the development of more effective, personalized drugs. The results of her team have been announced in over 90 publications in international scientific journals and books, in 170 speeches and 200 written announcements in scientific conferences worldwide. She is an evaluator of research programs for the European Union and other international organizations, a consultant in scientific committees and a faculty member in 9 postgraduate programs at Universities in Greece.

She has been honored with a number of awards, including the Greek L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science, the European Union Genetics Award as the National representative of the Young Scientists of Greece, and awards from scientific societies such as the American Society of Human Genetics, the Hellenic Society of Cardiology, the Hellenic Society of Pharmacology, and others.