• Chemoresistance/Immune-resistance in Human Tumors: Explore the molecular basis of the onset and reversion of chemoresistance.
• Molecular basis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Explore the molecular basis of the onset of the disease and response to therapies based on genomics and metagenomics
• Nanomedicine-based Therapies: Engage in the synthesis and validation of novel nanomedicine therapies (metallic, bi-metalic, liposomes, polymers, hybrid systems).

Maria Gazouli, a biologist, is a Professor of Biology – Nanomedicine at the Department of Biology at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), School of Medicine. She completed her first PhD training at the Department of Biology, School of Science of NKUA, in partnership with the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, and her second PhD training at the Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine of NKUA. She conducted her postdoctoral work in the USA at the Cell Biology and Pharmacology Department, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC. From 2000 to 2001, Dr. Gazouli was a Research Fellow at NCSR Demokritos, Institute of Biology, and from 2001 to 2003, she was a Research Fellow at the Department of Histology – Embryology, School of Medicine, NKUA. From 2004 to 2006, she served as a technical scientific staff member at the Laboratory of Biology, School of Medicine, NKUA. In 2007, she joined the NKUA Medical School as a Lecturer of Biology. In 2012, she was promoted to Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, in 2016 to Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, and in 2020 to Professor of Biology – Genetics - Nanomedicine.

Dr. Gazouli's work primarily focuses on the molecular basis of diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases and cancer, as well as the molecular detection of pathogens and the investigation of the pathogenesis of the diseases they cause in humans. Recently, she has incorporated nanotechnology to target cancer detection, imaging, and drug delivery. She was honored with a Fulbright Scholarship for the development of nanotechnology-based biosensor arrays for the detection of circulating colorectal cancer cells at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

Dr. Gazouli's work is reflected in over 350 publications that have received more than 15,800 citations, with an h-index of 64 (Google Scholar, 1/1/2024). She holds one granted international patent and three European patents. She has delivered more than 60 invited lectures at international and national conferences and universities and has trained several junior scientists. Dr. Gazouli has served as an ad hoc reviewer for various scientific journals and as an expert evaluator for national and international research grant funding agencies. She has been the scientific coordinator of European Commission-funded collaborative research programs. Dr. Gazouli teaches Biology, Genetics, and Nanomedicine to undergraduate medical students and in master's programs. Currently, she is a National Representative at the Committee of Advanced Therapies (CAT) of the European Medicine Association.