ELENI ANTONIADOU
GREEK BEAUTY ON THE MOON

She was born in Thessaloniki in 1988 and studied Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Thessaly in Greece. She later continued her studies at University College London and at the University of Illinois, where she earned graduate degrees in Nanotechnology – Regenerative Medicine, and Bioengineering – Tissue Engineering respectively.

Eleni has received worldwide recognition from the scientific community for her involvement in the development of life-saving therapies for artificial organ transplantations and has received awards including the NASA – ESA Outstanding Researcher Award for 2012. Up to then, she runs a research project on the effect of radiation on the human nervous system, aiming at protecting the astronauts during their missions. In the meantime, she received several fellowships for her doctoral studies.

“Being a member of the NASA Academy is not just a great scientific opportunity for me but fulfilling my childhood dream”, she says. “My family and friends still remember me begging my parents to buy me freeze-dried astronaut food, wearing t-shirts with the NASA logo and reading space science books in primary school,” Eleni adds.

Eleni Antoniadou – the first Greek Barbie Role Model- underlines: “There were many moments when I felt the obstacles are too big to overtake them. But I believed in myself and I thought that every dream when you put it on a date becomes a goal and every goal when you do small, small steps can be achieved. And every step brings us every day closer and closer to achieving our dream … You can become what you dream of. ”