I studied Biology and Molecular Medicine at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I explored the complexity of cancer pathogenesis. Then, I moved to Italy where I obtained my PhD from the University of Padua, investigating the morphology and functions of the subcellular organelles called mitochondria during programmed cell death. I am currently performing my postdoctoral training at the New York University School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Iannis Aifantis. My research focuses on understanding the role of mitochondria in leukemia progression and drug resistance. Although new targeted therapies have been discovered and approved for the treatment of various types of leukemia, in many cases patients do not respond or develop resistance to treatments. My LLS-funded studies shed light on the mitochondria adaptations which enable cancer cells escape cell death induced by the treatments, while suggesting novel therapeutic strategies.