Dimitris Thanos studied Biology at the University of Athens (1983). PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Crete (Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas). He was postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Harvard University, USA (1989-1994) in the field of regulation of gene expression, receiving a Lucille P. Markey postdoctoral fellowship. Assistant Professor (1995), Tenured Associate Professor (2000), Adjunct Professor (2003-2015) in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University School of Medicine, New York. Director (2001) of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Alexander Fleming Research Centre for Biomedical Sciences in Greece. Since March 2006, Chairman of the Scientific Council and Director of the Basic Research Center of the Biomedical Research Foundation / Academy of Athens. He discovered the enhanceosome, the basic molecular switch through which gene activity (expression) is regulated in humans and other organisms. He has published a number of articles and editorials in leading scientific journals in the field (Cell, Nature, Science, etc.). His published work has received about 14,000 citations in the literature. His findings are described in detail in all textbooks of molecular and cellular biology taught in schools of biology and medicine in Greece and abroad. He has been repeatedly awarded for the international recognition of his work. He is a regular member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO, 2004), Academia Europaea , the European Research Council (ERC) Research Programme Review Committee. He is the founder of the Greek Genome Center, national representative in the European Strategy for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and the European Training Committee of the Horizon 2020 Programme (2014-2020), member of the Board of Directors of the European Research Infrastructures for Biobanks and Systems Biology.
He is a full member of the Academy of Athens since 2016.