Eleni Melliou, PhD, University of Athens (UOA) School of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products.
She has two degrees, one from the chemistry department of the UOA and one from the department of food technology of the Technological Institute of Athens. She received her master’s and doctorate from the Pharmacy department of the UOA in 2005.
Her research is focused on the chemistry of natural products and particularly on the isolation and structural identification of small bioactive molecules from foods. In 2011 she worked as a visiting professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis.
She was honored as Inventor of the Year 2016 in Greece for her invention ARISTOLEO. She worked with Prof. Magiatis to create the first university lab to offer analysis of olive oil’s health protecting ingredients using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Prokopios Magiatis, PhD, MSc, is associate professor of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry in the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Athens.
He graduated from the same Faculty in 1994 and defended his PhD in 2000. In 2001, he did his postdoctoral research at the Curie Institute in Paris, France.
He has worked as a visiting professor at the University of California, Davis. In 2009, he was awarded the Egon-Stahl silver medal as the top scientist under 40 years old in the field of natural-products chemistry and pharmacology.
His research is focused on the isolation, chemical synthesis, and bioactivity of natural products, especially those reported in ancient medical texts. He was honored as Inventor of the Year 2016 in Greece for his invention ARISTOLEO.
He worked with Dr. Melliou to create the first university lab to offer analysis of olive oil’s health protecting ingredients using NMR.

Maria Nikolantonaki has been an associate professor in wine chemistry at the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France since 2013. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, a BS and MSc (combined) in Plant Sciences (2005), with a specialization in Viticulture and Horticulture. At the University of Bordeaux Segalen, Bordeaux, France, she received a Diploma in Enology (D.N.O.) in 2007 and an MSc in Viticulture and Enology in 2007, and from the same university her PhD in in Enology in 2010. From 2011 to 2013 she was a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of California, Davis, USA.

Diomedes Logothetis is a professor in the School of Pharmacy at Northeastern University, Boston. Studies: Northeastern University, BA (Physics, 1980), MS (Psychology, 1981), Harvard University, PhD (Physiology and Biophysics, 1987), Harvard Medical School, Postdoctoral Fellow/Instructor (1987-1993). From 2008 to 2016 he held the position of Professor and Chair of Physiology and Biophysics at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. His research specializations are the Molecular basis of Ion Channel and G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) function and Mechanisms of action of small molecule ligands on Ion Channels and GPCRs. 

George Baltopoulos, MD, PhD, is an emeritus professor and former Dean of the Department of Nursing at the University of Athens who specialized in Critical Care and Pulmonary Diseases. From 2010 to 2016, he was Director of Athens University School of Nursing I.C.U. at Agioi Anargyroi Hospital of Kifissia. From 1983 to 1986 he worked at the University of Colorado and the University of Chicago. He has extensive experience organizing medical conferences and was one of the first medical doctors to promote olive oil as a health protecting agent to a medical audience.

Dan Flynn is the global ambassador of the World Olive Center for Health, helping to promote the center’s research findings. He retired in 2021 as the founding executive director of the UC Davis Olive Center, which was established in 2008 to do for olives what UC Davis did for wine. Under his leadership, the self-supporting center helped drive global debate on olive oil quality and developed collaborative education and research projects in and beyond California. He also serves as an advisor to the Hellenic Center of Excellence for Health & Wellness.

Dr. Kales is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Occupational Medicine Residency at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). He is co-director and cofounder of the Initiative for Productivity and Health Management, which organized and hosted the groundbreaking 2014 Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health Conference. Dr. Kales is also the Chief of Occupational & Environmental Medicine / Medical Director for Employee Health at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard-affiliated hospital system. He was the 2013 recipient of the Kehoe Award for Excellence in Education and Research from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), and the 2014 winner of the distinguished Harriet Hardy award from the New England College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Both awards are presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding scientific contributions to the field. These two lifetime achievement awards recognize Dr. Kales’ many significant contributions, particularly his large body of work dedicated to better understanding and preventing heart disease in public safety personnel such as firefighters. The team’s latest initiative is an ambitious Mediterranean Diet Intervention trial among firefighters which is funded by the US Department of Homeland Security.

Certified economist and class A accountant with more than 18 years of experience in accounting, finance, and business consulting. He is an official member of the Greek Association of Tax Advisers (EFEEA) as a certified accountant, and an official member of the Economic Chamber of Greece (OEE) as a certified economist and accountant. He has exceptional knowledge of business mathematical and statistical concepts, Greek and international accounting, taxation, finance topics, and IFRS/GAAP.

In January 2015 he established MM Financial Accounting Services PC, which is a high standard accounting, financial and consulting company. The company offers a wide variety of services to its business clients and organizations, such as i) business growth plans, business cost analysis, business reorganization projects, business merger projects, and ii) bookkeeping, tax calculation, and reporting.

Since 2017, he has participated in a Greek Parliament team as a volunteer freelance economic advisor, working on numerous reports and proposals for the reformation of Greek taxation, and many Greek economic matters related to microeconomics and macroeconomics.

He has varied experience in economics, finance, accounting and business consulting. For this reason, he has worked in large companies as a Financial Manager (Eternia Construction SA 2008-2012), a Chief Accountant (for Log Accounting Company 2013-2014, Eternia Construction SA 2008-2012), an Accountant (Volkswagen Filosidi SA 2001-2003), and a Financial and Statistical Analyst (Cronus Airlines – Aegean Airlines 1997-2000).

He graduated in 1997 from the Institute of Professional Training with a degree in Accounting and then from the Hellenic Open University with a degree in Business Administration. He speaks Greek (native language) and English. Since 1997, he has participated in more than 400 seminars and workshops focused on economic, accounting, financial, and consulting matters, and in many conferences related to the topic of high phenolic EVOO.