Athina Lazaridou is an Associate Professor in Food Physical Chemistry in the Dept. of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She received her bachelor’s (1995), M.Sc. (1999), and Ph.D. (2003) degrees from the same University. She has worked as post-doctoral fellow in the University of Manitoba, Dept. of Food Science (2003-2005) as well as in the Food Science and Technology Dept. of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2005-2006), and she also had an appointment as Research Associate (2006-2010) in the same Department. Her research interests include the chemistry and physical chemistry of food hydrocolloids with an emphasis on understanding phase transition behaviour of food biopolymers and structure-property relations of polysaccharides in solution, dispersions, gels and edible films and coatings as well as in model food formulations or in real food products, with the intention to develop functional foods of improved quality and stability for the baking and dairy industry. Of particular interest to the nutritional and technological functionalities of polymeric carbohydrates, is her work on cereal β-glucans and gluten-free bakery products. She is the author/co-author of 70 peer-reviewed publications, 2 peer-reviewed publications in conference journals, 4 book chapters, 9 articles in conference proceedings, and with 95 contributions to national and international conferences and more than 3850 citations (h-Index 28, Scopus). She has worked in 34 National, International and European research projects including 9 of them as scientist-in-charge. Dr Lazaridou was the recipient of the ‘Young Scientist’s Award – 2009’ of the Rheology Division of the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) International, in recognition of her outstanding research contributions in the area of food rheology and texture of cereal-based products. She is currently a member of the editorial board of the “Bioactive Carbohydrate and Dietary Fiber” and “Food Hydrocolloids” journals.