Dr Michael A. Terzidis received his bachelor in Chemistry and gained his PhD in Organic Synthesis from the Department of Chemistry of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has a postdoctoral research experience on the oxidatively induced DNA damage by his work as a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow at the National Research Council (CNR) in Bologna, Italy. He expanded his research knowledge on the laser induced photochemistry at the Advance Technology Institute of the University of Surrey, UK, where he worked as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor). He worked as a Research Scientist at the Research and Development for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients department of Pharmathen SA in Thessaloniki, Greece on research projects relevant to the pharmaceutical industry. Today he is Assistant Professor at the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics of the Hellenic International University (Thessaloniki, Greece).
He is the Principal Investigator of the PhotoDaLu project [776] of the 1st Call for Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) Research Projects to support Post-Doctoral Researchers. The project focuses on the development of novel methodologies and technologies in the area of photochemistry, green chemistry and catalysis aiming to tackle some of the persistent problems during scale-up, for the synthesis of pharmaceutical relevant products and intermediates. The scope of the research work is also expanded on the exploration of the potential use in the development of new photodynamic therapies.
His research interests focus on the synthesis and the studies of molecules with high pharmacological interest or their intermediates, and also on the studies of biomimetic models exploring the radical stress impact on biomolecules such as the DNA, lipids and proteins. In 2019 his research activity, his contribution and role in highlighting the role of Chemistry globally was recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) who selected him as the representative of the element Lithium in the Periodic Table of Younger Chemists.