Dr. Yannis G. Lazarou graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, obtaining his B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1984. His early research interests focused in complexes of metals in high oxidation states and mixed-valence complexes of Nb and Ta with alcohols. In 1985, he entered the Graduate Programme of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Crete, to work in the Laboratory of Photochemistry and Chemical Kinetics. In 1993, he obtained his PhD on the "Study of the Decomposition Mechanism and Chemical Reactivity of Nitramines in the Gas Phase". As a post-doctoral fellow, he studied the mechanism and kinetics of chlorine atom reactions with a variety of chemical compounds using the Very Low Pressure Reactor (VLPR) coupled to a quadrupole mass spectrometer. More specifically, he focused on the atmospheric degradation of halogenated organic compounds, especially CFC substitutes and bromine/iodine containing compounds. In parallel, he used theoretical chemistry in order to predict the molecular properties and reactivity of environmentally important species. During 1995-1998 he was teaching General Chemistry (class and lab), Computational Chemistry and Physical Chemistry in the Chemistry Department of the University of Crete. In 1999, he was elected Researcher C' in the Institute of Physical Chemistry, NCSR "Demokritos". He is the head of the Laboratory of Molecular Computational Chemistry in the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in NCSR "D", performing theoretical calculations in molecular and supramolecular systems using ab-initio, density-functional theory (DFT) and semi-emprirical methods. His research activity embraces the reliable prediction of chemical properties, the study of chemical reaction mechanisms and the accuracy assessment of computational chemistry methodologies.