Anastasia Gioti is a Research Fellow in Microbial Bioinformatics specialized in Fungi. Initially trained in Biology (NKUA, Greece), she obtained a Master’s and a PhD in Genomics (University Paris-XI, France) and switched into Bioinformatics following a specialized course (Institut Pasteur Paris, France). With more than 20 years professional experience in France, UK, Sweden, USA, and Greece, Anastasia has secured independent funding for many of her projects (from Swedish, Greek and French Research Agencies and Ministries), has taught Biology, Statistics and Bioinformatics at the BSc. and MSc. level (Assistant Professor, American Farm School, Thessaloniki), and has been actively accompanying students in their first research steps in Bioinformatics.

Anastasia’s latest research revolves around the themes of climate change and biodiversity. She works on two complementary directions:
1) Raising awareness on biodiversity loss, through policy briefs (Horizon project Biotrails, Harokopeio University Athens), and citizen science events (Erasmus+ projects, Ecomuseum Zagori Greece).
2) Enriching scientific evidence on the largely understudied theme of fungal biodiversity and ecosystem services, through data and tool development and through studies of their roles in climate change adaptation (HFRI MACCIMO, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Crete).

As a 2026-2027 Fulbright Scholar, Anastasia Gioti will further develop the second direction, by focussing on the contributions of marine Fungi to the biogeochemistry of Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs). These oceanic water columns depleted in oxygen govern key steps of the nitrogen and carbon cycles, and are currently expanding with global warming. The Scholarship will allow Anastasia Gioti to visit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the largest independent oceanographic research institution in the U.S. At WHOI, Anastasia will analyze a large dataset of 157 OMZ metatranscriptomes generated by global expeditions of the host Research Scientist Maria Pachiadaki, an expert in marine microbial ecology interested in extreme environments. Furthermore, as a guest lecturer at the WHOI-MIT Environmental Bioinformatics MSc. program, Anastasia Gioti will develop educational material on Fungal Bioinformatics to strengthen her teaching experience.