Fotini Bonoti is a Professor in Developmental Psychology at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Thessaly. She obtained her first degree in Philosophy, Education and Psychology (specialisation: Psychology) from the University of Athens. She has also received her M.A. in Child Development from the Institute of Education, University of London, U.K, and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. She has been with the University of Thessaly, Department of Early Childhood from 2000 to 2022. She has taught courses related to Developmental Psychology in under- and postgraduate programs.Her research interests include topics related to Child Development. More specifically, her current research activity focuses on children’s emotional, cognitive and drawing development.

Dr Rena I. Kosti is a Full Professor of Human Nutrition-Epidemiology in the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Thessaly. She completed her undergraduate studies with distinction in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the Agricultural University of Athens. Subsequently, she obtained a Master's degree in Food Biotechnology on a NATO scholarship from the University of Reading, England. She completed her PhD thesis at the Agricultural University of Athens in the field of Human Nutrition. She has a long international career in multinational companies in Nutrition products, where she held high-level administrative positions while also serving as a scientific advisor. In 2016, she received a fellowship from the German Institute of Human Nutrition and retrained in Nutritional Epidemiology in Potsdam, Germany. She was a member of the scientific writing team of the general and special National nutritional guides "EY Dia...trofin" of the Ministry of Health. Today, she serves as a member of the scientific review committee for the National Dietary Guidelines of the Ministry of Health. Since 2026, she has been elected Vice President of the working group « Lifestyle, Psychosocial factors and atherosclerosis” of the Hellenic Atherosclerosis Society. She is a Scientific Associate of the Hellenic Health Foundation. She is an author or co-author of numerous publications in peer-reviewed national and international scientific journals and chapters of Greek and foreign language books. Dr Kosti is a reviewer in numerous scientific journals and a grant proposal reviewer for institutions such as the Ministry of Health of Israel and the Research Executive Agency (REA) of the European Commission. She participates in nationally and internationally funded research programs. In 2019, she was elected President of the "Consumption, Nutrition and Health" expert group of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) in Paris, and she remained in this position for 6 years; today, she holds the position of Vice-President of this expert group.  In 2026, she was appointed as a member of the General Assembly of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.)

Interests: childhood obesity, dietary patterns, food consumption, wine, Mediterranean diet, NCDs

Athanasios Manouras is a Professor and Head of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of University of Thessaly, in the field of "Food Chemistry with an emphasis on Chemistry of Natural Products". He completed his undergraduate sudies at the Department of Chemistry, at the University of Patras, in 1984, and continued his Ph.D. thesis on the structure and biological properties of proteoglycans and glycoproteins of extracellular space (1992). Finally, in 1998 he obtained a Master degree in Oenology. He then works as a business consultant in the field of Research & Development of New Products, staff training and food quality assurance systems. Since 2010 he has been elected as Associate Professor of the Food Technology Department of TEI of Thessaly (Larissa) and he has participated, at least, in (15) research programs, European or National, Competitive or Self-financed, either as a cordinator or as a member of the research team and has published more than sixty papers at international level scientific journals, scientific conferences, international and Greek, and has participated in the translation team of two foreign books “Biochemistry” and “Clinical Chemistry”. He was Head of the Food Technology Department from 01-09-2010 until 29-01-2019 and has participated in numerous committees of teachers, research or administrative staff of TEI of Thessaly. He has participated in the organization (organizing or scientific committee) of international conferences and workshops. He has taken part as a supervisor, leader of teams of students, in competitions for innovative, eco-friendly foods, always making a distinction. Ecotrophelia 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018: 3rd prize, 1st prize, and Best Presentation Award. https://www.sevt.gr

I am currently a Professor in Clinical Exercise Physiology at the Universities of Thessaly (Permanent Chair), Greece and the University of Wolverhampton (Visiting), UK. My work evolves around physical activity, exercise and health and specifically how physical activity and/or exercise can be used to improve – via specific physiological and molecular/genetic mechanisms – disease symptoms and health parameters in patients with different chronic diseases. My interests also involve implementation science and particularly, how effective interventions can be implemented in healthcare. I have led randomised controlled trials and epidemiological studies and have published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific publications in my field. My work has had a significant scientific impact since it has helped the formation of position statements and improve existing guidelines for treating different non-communicable diseases. In specific, specific publications have been used, amongst others, by the World Health Organisation, the British Heart Foundation, the National Health Services and the European League Against Rheumatism. I have also received both national and international grants (Medical Research Council, FP-7, Horizon 2020), I am actively acting as an expert evaluator in multiple funding bodies and peer-reviewed journals and I am an elected member of the Scientific Committee of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR), the largest organization responsible for developing recommendations for rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease.