Maria I. Zervou is currently a Scientific and Teaching Staff member of “Human Molecular Genetics” at the Medical School of the University of Crete.
Dr. Zervou completed her undergraduate studies at the Department of Biology of the University of Crete and received her B.Sc. in 1999. She then pursued postgraduate studies (M.Sc.) in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the Department of Biology of the University of Crete and she obtained a Master of Science degree in 2001. She completed her PhD at the Medical School of Crete and received her diploma in 2007. The topic of her PhD was the investigation of the contribution of Genetics and Biotechnology in COPD and Asthma.
She is involved in the research and educational activities of the Department of Internal Medicine of the Medical School of the University of Crete from 2002 to present, possesses extensive teaching experience in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and is an active member of the Greek Human Geneticists Association (SIGE). She has also received many honors and awards for her research and participated in many research programs funded by national and European resources. She is an editorial board member and peer-reviewer in various international scientific journals and has also served in other roles in committees of the Medical School of Crete as well as organizing committees of many scientific conferences.
She has contributed as author/co-author in more than 104 peer-reviewed papers in major peer-reviewed international journals, in the topic of Human Molecular Genetics and Molecular/Structural Biology. She is actively involved in laboratory-based translational research focusing on the delineation of molecular mechanisms leading to various autoimmune, metabolic, inflammatory and gynecological diseases. In addition, Dr. Zervou is also involved in the detection on new gene polymorphisms and explores their functional significance, aiming to the identification of potential novel therapeutic targets.