Mary Yannakoulia

Mary Yannakoulia is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Eating Behavior at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece, with a distinguished research focus on behavioral nutrition across the lifespan.

Education

• Bachelor degree in Dietetics – Direction: Dietetics, Harokopios School of Home Economics, Athens, Greece, 1993
• Masters degree (MSc) in Nutrition, Dept. of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College – University of London, UK, 1994
• Doctoral degree (PhD) in Nutrition, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece, 2002

Research Interests

Her work critically examines:

• Eating habits and behaviors of children and adolescents
• Eating behaviors in older adults, frailty, and cognitive decline
• Weight management, weight loss maintenance, and appetite/satiety physiology
• Patient adherence to dietary interventions

She investigates how socio-economic factors, Mediterranean dietary patterns, and lifestyle interventions influence health outcomes from childhood through geriatric care, emphasizing real-world applicability in Mediterranean populations.

Publication Trends

Dr. Yannakoulia’s 12 publications (2003-2017) reveal a strategic focus on longitudinal cohort studies (e.g., MedWeight, HELIAD) analyzing Mediterranean diet impacts on cognitive health, weight regulation, and metabolic syndrome. Her methodological rigor includes meta-analyses, classification trees, and biomarker assessments, consistently linking dietary patterns to physiological outcomes like cortisol regulation and leptin dynamics.

A dominant theme is the Mediterranean diet’s role in mitigating age-related cognitive decline and sustaining weight loss, with increasing emphasis on statistical modeling of socio-behavioral determinants in child/adolescent nutrition since 2013.

Advising and Grants

While specific student names and grant details are unreported, her leadership in multi-author studies (e.g., 7+ co-authors in 2017 MedWeight paper) and PhD supervision at Harokopio University indicate active graduate mentoring. Her research scope suggests competitive funding from Greek/EU health agencies for nutrition epidemiology projects.