Never forget your roots...

My journey in Science started from my hometown, Chania in Crete.

When I was 10, my older sister’s first son was diagnosed with high-functioning autism.

My nephew was my first inspiration, and since my undergraduate studies my passion for the field kept growing and led me to the US.

Since then I have been blessed with an extraordinary career.  
Given this and the struggles our country faces, especially in health care, I have always felt a deep responsibility to give back. 
That is why part of our work is connected to Greece.

My team' s most important research achievements thus far include: designing innovative treatments for dysphagia which are being tested in patients with neurological disorders, providing the first evidence for the use of telehealth in treating dysphagia and  collecting and publishing the first Greek epidemiological data on dysphagia, in order to advocate for the field and for patients in Greece. 

A message that has guided my life can be summarized in a Cretan couplet: “Ποτές δεν πρέπει τα κλαδιά τις ρίζες να ξεχνούνε, γιατί οι ρίζες σα χαθούν κι αυτά θα ξεραθούνε...»   which means that “The branches of a tree should never “forget” about their roots, because if the roots should die, the branches will also wither…”