Hello, my name is Eleni and I joined NYUGSOM in July 2025! I was born and raised in sunny Mediterranean Greece and completed my Bachelor studies in my hometown Thessaloniki. Then I pursued my Masters degree in Neuroscience in Heidelberg and Paris and recently completed my PhD in Munich. The visual system and particularly motion vision circuits in fruit flies have been the focus of my graduate studies. Now I joined the Nagel Lab at NYUGSOM and I will study how flies use their sensory perceptions to navigate!

I am very interested in the intersection of Arts and Sciences, so I try to create a beautiful amalgam of the two in my life.  NYC offers an incredible variety of architectural styles, textures and colors, so you will most probably find me taking photos of buildings! Dogs are my soft spot, especially my golden boy -soul bloomer as I call him- who is currently enjoying his time in Greece. I adore long existential dicussions, so if you do too then come and talk to me!

In the three months I have been in NYC, I realized that the PDA council offers a multitude of contributions to the NYUGSOM postdoc community. With my candidature I aspire to help and evolve one aspect of these, our social activities! 

Community building is an integral aspect of any collective, as it fosters inclusion, discussion and acceptance. I believe that the organization of new and regular social events will further lead to a vibrant, multifaceted and curious postdoc community. At the same time, it is of great importance to find like-minded people, especially after a recent move-in to a new city, which can be overwhelming! Our current societal role is to push science forward; therefore, we all share a pool of common experiences that we could exchange and eventually nurture one another. Be it to find mentors, future collaborators or even friends in the NYUGSOM postdoc community, we can only do so if we get to know one another! 

In that regard, I would like to contribute to the organization of our pre-existing social gatherings, but at the same time I envision a series of new events. The first idea is to start our own book club where we will freely exchange ideas on somebody else’s ideas -isn’t this also part of our identities as scientists? -. A second suggestion is to set our own rotating art exhibition, where we can present our artwork and initiate thought-provoking discussions. Nevertheless, these ideas can always be evolved and enriched based on the needs of our community, so I am counting on feedback and even more suggestions!

Social activities can offer joy and relaxation between our stressful day-to-day routines, so I would like to be given the opportunity to attend to this for our postdoc community!