Top 10 Healthcare Trendsetters of 2016

Eleni Antoniadou

Antoniadou founded Transplants Without Donors, an early start-up that provides research tools to make artificial organs based on stem cells and other alternate therapeutic pathways in an effort to solve today’s donor organ shortage. Her catalyst was a trip to Latin America, where she witnessed the brutalities of illegal organ trafficking. “The experience scarred me but also made me realize the paramount importance for us to act in order to stop these atrocities from happening.” Fascinated by innovation and multidisciplinary research, she believes that merging fields can produce epic solutions attainable by any country, no matter how poor or wealthy.

Antoniadou is living her dream job—she’s part of the NASA Academy and the Mars Exploration Lab conducting research on the effects of radiation on the central nervous system. She’s also the President of the European Health Parliament for 2016 and strives to bring novel ideas for safer, affordable and accessible healthcare to all. She divides her time between conducting research on space medicine and regenerative medicine, and stem cell therapies and artificial organs.
“I do not think reaching ambitious goals motivates me,” shared Antoniadou. “I am motivated by getting to a place each day where I can confidently and audaciously move the finish line further into the distance.”