Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Prof. Dimitri Nanopoulos
Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Physics at Texas A&M University, Member of the Academy of Athens, a Visiting Researcher at New York University, and a longtime research affiliate at CERN, with earlier research fellowships at Harvard University and Ecole Normale Superieur.
One of the most cited physicists of his generation, his work spans string theory, grand unified theories, including the flipped SU(5) model , and quantum cosmology, and he was part of the CERN team whose theoretical framework helped guide the experimental search that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson, a contribution acknowledged by Peter Higgs himself. He is the author of hundreds (771) of scientific publications.
In 1995, Nanopoulos proposed a quantum-theoretic model of brain function, treating neuronal microtubules through string theory to explain memory encoding and capacity. He later helped test this idea experimentally, co-authoring a Drosophila study showing that excess TAU protein disrupts the neuronal microtubule cytoskeleton and impairs learning and memory offering biological support for the microtubule-based model. Experiments are now underway to test these three-decade-old theories with current techniques.
Through the programs Dimitri leads, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Scholarships and the Quantum Brain, he concentrates his efforts to open frontiers for the next generation of scientists and to keep science and the humanities in public view.
Vice President
Stelios Paschalidis
Global business leader with more than four decades of experience in the international food ingredients industry.
Born in Greece and based in France since 1975, he trained as an agronomy engineer at the University of Thessaloniki and went on to earn advanced degrees in food chemicals and technology and in industrial marketing in Paris.
He began his career in 1980 at Amylum (Tate & Lyle), a European leader in starches and glucose syrups, where he rose from Marketing Manager for France and Italy to Commercial Director and Chief Operating Officer of Amylum France. In 1989 he joined the Finnish multinational Cultor, later Danisco, to build its French subsidiary. He went on to create Cultor France Holding following the acquisition of Pfizer Food Science, establish the Chamtor joint venture, and serve as President of Danisco Sweeteners France. As Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, he oversaw markets across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. From 2007 to 2018 he was President of Griffith Foods Europe, including Africa, part of a global supplier with about $1 billion in sales, where he drove a sustainability strategy built on performance, people and planet. In 2019 he joined Solina Group, a European leader in savory food ingredients with 27 factories and more than 2,200 employees, serving as Executive Vice-Chairman, then Chief Executive Officer, and later as Vice-Chairman and Board Member.
Known for leading by example and for a strong commitment to values and ethics, Stelios brings his global executive experience, and his deep understanding of sustainability and cross-border leadership, to the Nanopoulos Foundation.
Treasurer
Dr. Christos Vlachos
Brings more than four decades of international finance and deal-making experience to the Nanopoulos Foundation's board.
Trained as a chemist, with an Honours Degree from the University of Athens and a PhD from Queen Mary College, University of London, he later completed the Investment Management Programme at London Business School. That mix of scientific rigor and financial strategy has defined his career.
He began at Dow Chemical in Zurich, evaluating large-scale projects across Europe, then joined J.P. Morgan in London, where he contributed to European emerging-markets research and investment strategy. As Partner at Eurofin and CEO of its Athens subsidiary, he led corporate finance across Greece and Southeast Europe, advising on transactions in telecoms, energy, shipping, hospitality, and real estate.
Dr. Vlachos has been at the table during moments of systemic importance. As Senior Advisor to Moelis & Co, he helped guide the first recapitalization of Greece's systemic banks, working with the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund. He later advised on non-performing loan transactions, assisting purchases of roughly €600 million in nominal value. He has also served as Senior Advisor to Nomura in Greece and as Senior External Advisor to Blantyre.
Since 1999 he has directed Silky Finance, an independent advisory firm now based in Cyprus, specializing in restructuring, capital raising, ship financing, and M&A. Since 1996 he has built enduring bridges between China, Europe, and Africa, advancing foreign direct investment and cultural exchange between Chinese and European institutions.
Having lived and worked in Athens, Zurich, London, and Limassol, Dr. Vlachos offers the Foundation a truly global perspective, deep governance and financial judgment, and a network spanning business and public leadership. His experience in complex, high-stakes negotiations will strengthen the Foundation's strategy, partnerships, and long-term impact.
secretary
Dr. Olga Nanopoulou
Lawyer and bioethics researcher whose career bridges law, biomedical science, and human rights advocacy.
She spent seventeen years as in-house lawyer and researcher at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, where her work centered on the legal and ethical implications of biomedical research, including data protection, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance. Since 2015, she has served as an external ethics expert to the European Commission, and she has held research affiliations with the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics at Uppsala University and BBMRI-ERIC in Graz, Austria, working on EU-funded projects addressing comparative privacy law across the regions of Europe and Africa.
Her human rights work includes advocacy for women's health at the World Health Organization in Geneva, and she currently serves in that capacity at the United Nations, NYC, headquarters through the Women for Water Partnership. She authored the first comprehensive framework for AI health literacy as a foundation for responsible AI in healthcare, published in Frontiers, Digital Health.
Through the Nanopoulos Foundation Program “AI Health Literacy Hub”, she leads efforts to make AI in medicine legible to the public while shaping the ethical and regulatory frameworks that guide its use on a global scale.
MEMBER
Julia Tsetis
Honorary Doctor of NKUA, CEO of OFET, GS of BoD of SEV, Chair of UN GCNH UNI-PHARMA SA & InterMed SA, Greece
Julia Tsetis is president and CEO of the Tseti Pharmaceutical Group of Companies (OFET), which includes the pharmaceutical companies UNI-PHARMA, InterMed, and UNIHERBO, as well as the trading company Pharmabelle in Cyprus. She is a pharmacist, holds an MSc in Biosciences, and is an Honorary Doctor of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the University of Patras.
She served as secretary-general of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV, 2022–2024), while also heading SEV’s Committee on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion. In February 2021, she was elected President of the 1st Board of Directors of the UN Global Compact Network Greece (2021–2024). She is the initiator and founder of the 1st Arab-Hellenic Health Conference, held in May 2024 in Athens. In July 2025, Julia Tsetis received an Honorary Award for Women’s Entrepreneurship within the framework of the “Protagonists of the Greek Economy” institution.
