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Mary Helen Kosmidis

Professor

Discipline : Neuropsychological Assessment

  • 421c, New Building, Faculty of Philosophy

Mary H. Kosmidis received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from American University, Washington, DC (1992) and worked as a staff fellow at the NIMH conducting research in psychophysiology and neuropsychology, while also working in private practice. Since 1999, she has been on the faculty of the School of Psychology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, teaching and doing research in clinical neuropsychology and supervising students’ clinical and research training. Additional positions include that of Visiting Scientist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2024-25) and Visiting Scholar at University of Cyprus (2016). She currently represents Greece (via the Association of Greek Psychologists) as a member of the Standing Committee on Clinical Neuropsychology of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (SCCN-EFPA). Over the course of her career, she has organized national and international conferences and the INS-sponsored Vivian Smith Summer Institute for Neuropsychology, was president of the Hellenic Neuropsychological Society and board member of the Hellenic Psychological Society of Northern Greece (HPSNG), vice-dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at AUTh, and has served on the editorial board of several scientific journals. She has published four books in Greek, 22 book chapters and over 200 scientific journal articles and has edited the translation of 9 scientific books into Greek. Her research has been awarded several grants (NIH, European Commission, Hellenic Ministry of Education, AUTh) and conference prizes.

My recent research has focused on early signs and protective and predisposing factors for the development of dementia (e.g., Mediterranean diet, sleep, normal cognitive trajectories related to aging, early exposure to adverse life factors such as war, pesticide use, low SES); the neurocognitive dimensions of illiteracy and implications for a) accurate clinical neuropsychological assessment and b) the effects of literacy on cognitive functioning; cultural factors relevant to neuropsychological assessment, e.g., determining the cultural appropriateness of neuropsychological tests and adapting existing, or developing new, tests and normative data for the Greek population, among others.

 

Key Words: dementia, neuropsychological assessment, illiteracy, social cognition, post-operative cognitive impairment, attention deficit disorder and driving, competence of clinical neuropsychologists

Undergraduate:

 

Postgraduate:

2025

  1. Alexopoulos, P., Bountoulis, C., Katirtzoglou, E., Kosmidis, M. H., Siarkos, K., Yannakoulia, M., Dardiotis, E., Skondra, M., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Perneczky, R., Sakka, P., Georgiou, E. Z., Charalampopoulou, Μ., Felemegkas, P., Leroi, I., Batsidis, A., Perna, L., Politis, A., Scarmeas, N., & Economou, P. (2025). The potential of depressive symptoms to identify cognitive impairment in ageing. European Journal of Ageing, 22(1):7. doi: 10.1007/s10433-025-00837-1.
  2. Bairami, S., Scarmeas, N., Yannakoulia, M., Dardiotis, E., Sakka, P., Hadjigeorgiou, G., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2025). Can sleep predict conversion to Mild Cognitive Impairment and dementia? Results from the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet Study. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000661.
  3. Bracher-Smith, M., Melograna, F., Ulm, B., Bellenguez, C., … Kosmidis, M. H., … Sachdev, P., Mather, K., Arfan Ikram, M. (2025). Machine learning in Alzheimer’s disease genetics. Nature Communication, 16(1):6726. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61650-z.
  4. Charisis, S., Mourtzi, N., Scott, M. R., Ntanasi, E., Mamalaki, E., Hatzimanolis, A., Ramirez, A., Lambert, J-C, Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Sakka, P., Satizabal, C. L., Beiser, A., Yang, Q., Georgakis, M. K., Seshadri, S., & Scarmeas, N. (2025). Genetic predisposition to high circulating levels of interleukin 6 and risk for Alzheimer’s disease: Discovery and replication. The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease.
  5. Chatzispyrellis, S., Fragopoulou, E., Mamalaki, E., Ntanasi, E., Maraki, M. I., Charisis, S., Mourtzinos, I., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Sakka, P., Gu, Y., Scarmeas, N., & Yannakoulia, M. (2025). Polyphenol intake and risk of dementia and cognitive decline in older adults: Principal component analysis approach. The Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.05.047
  6. Dimitriadou, M., Scarmeas, N., Giannakoulia, M., Dardiotis, E., Sakka, P., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2025). Assessing mental flexibility in the older population with low levels of education. Clinical Neuropsychologist. 2025 Apr 11:1-17. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2025.2490124
  7. Gousia, S., Patrikelis, P., Messinis, L., Kosmidis, M. H., & Kimiskidis, V. (2025). Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and the role of the right hemisphere. Epilepsy & Behavior, 170:110465. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110465.
  8. Koutsimani, P., Tsapanou, A., Yannakoulia, M., Sakka, P., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Dardiotis, E., Scarmeas, N., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2025). Sleep pattern trajectories and incident Mild Cognitive Impairment and dementia: results from the HELIAD study. Clinical Gerontologist. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2025.2537696
  9. Liampas, I., Siokas, V., Mourtzi, N., Charisis, S., Sampatakakis, S. N., Foukarakis, I., Hatzimanolis, A., Ramirez, A., Lambert, J. C., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Sakka, P., Rouskas, K., & Scarmeas, N. (2025). Genetic predisposition to hippocampal atrophy and risk of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Dementia. Geriatrics (Basel). 2025 Jan 16;10(1):14. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics10010014
  10. Mourtzi, N., Charisis, S., Ntanasi, E., Hatzimanolis, A., Ramirez, A., Sampatakakis, S. N., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Sakka, P., Mamalaki, E., Papandreou, C., Georgakis, M. K., & Scarmeas, N. (2025). Longitudinal Association of a Polygenic Risk Score for Plasma T-Tau With Incident Alzheimer Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Neurology, 105(9):e213904. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213904.
  11. Moza, S., Scarmeas, N., Yannakoulia, M., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Sakka, P., & Kosmidis, M. H. (in press, 2025). Association between childhood war exposure and late-life cognition and late-life incident MCI and dementia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.
  12. Moza, S., Scarmeas, N., Yannakoulia, M., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Sakka, P. & Kosmidis, M. H. (2025). Critical menarche age for late-life dementia and the role of education and socioeconomic status. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 32(2), 307–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2024.2386314
  13. Nicolas, A., Sherva, R., Grenier-Boley, B., … Kosmidis, M. H., … Gim, J., Logue, M.,  & Lambert, J.-C. (2025). Transferability of European-derived Alzheimer’s disease polygenic risk scores across multiancestry populations. Nature Genetics, 57(7), 1598-1610. doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02227-w
  14. Panagea, E., Messinis, L., Patrikelis, P., Malefaki, S., Petri, M.C., Nasios, G., Liontos, A., Biros, D., Kosmidis, M.H., & Milionis, H. (2025). Persistent neuropsychological deficits in recovered COVID-19 patients: correlations with disease biomarkers. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult. 2025 May 12:1-13. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2025.2502871
  15. Panagea, E., Messinis, L., Petri, M. C., Liampas, I., Anyfantis, E., Nasios, G., Patrikelis, P., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2025). Neurocognitive impairment in Long-COVID: A systematic review. Archive of Clinical Neuropsychology. 40(1), 125-149. doi: 10.1093/arclin/acae042
  16. Petri, M. C., Messinis, L., Patrikelis, P., Nasios, G., Dimitriou, N., Nousia, A., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2025). Feasibility and clinical effectiveness of computer-based cognitive rehabilitation in illiterate and low-educated individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Preliminary data. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 40, 382-393. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acae078
  17. Sampatakakis, S. N., Mourtzi, N., Charisis, S., Mamalaki, E., Ntanasi, E., Hatzimanolis, A., Ramirez, A., Lambert, J. C., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Megalou, M., Sakka, P., & Scarmeas, N. (2025). Walking time and genetic predisposition for Alzheimer’s disease: Results from the HELIAD study. Clinical Neuropsychology, 39(1), 83–99. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2024.2344869.
  18. Samtani, S., Mahalingam, G., Ben Chun Pham Lam; Lipnicki, D. M., Numbers, K., Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa; Blay, S. L., Castro Costa, E., Xiao, S., Reidel-Heller, S., Röhr, S., Pabst, A., Scarmeas, N., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Krishna, M., Kumaran, K., Shahar, S., Tze Pin Ng; Ho, R., Kim, K.-W., Skoog, I., Najar, J., Rydberg Sterner, T., Ganguli, M., Ho Chang, C.-C., Hughes, T. F., Perminder S., Sachdev, S., & Brodaty, H. (2025). Emotional and instrumental social support and older adults’ depressive symptoms: Collaborative meta-analysis of 11 population-based studies of ageing. American Journal of Epidemiology, 194(10), 3041-3049. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwaf137.

 

2024

  1. Arampatzi, X., Margioti, E., Messinis, L., Yannakoulia, M., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Dardiotis, E., Sakka, P., Scarmeas, N., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2024). Development of robust normative data for the neuropsychological assessment of Greek older adults. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 1-9. doi:10.1017/S1355617723011499
  2. Georgiou, E.-Z., Politis, A., Kosmidis, M. H., Yannakoulia, M., Efthimios Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Sakka, P., Scarmeas, N., Economou, P., & Alexopoulos, P. (2024). Depressive symptoms in the entire spectrum of cognitive aging in Greece: Evidence from the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD). International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 28(1), 27-34. doi: 10.1080/13651501.2023.2296889.
  3. Liampas, I., Siokas, V., Kyrozis, A., Sakoutis, G., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, H., Sakka, P., Scarmeas, N., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., & Dardiotis, E. (2024). Longitudinal cognitive trajectories in older adults with Restless Legs Syndrome or Willis-Ekbom disease Life, 14(4):430. doi: 10.3390/life14040430
  4. Malegiannaki, A.-Ch., Garefalaki, E., Pellas, N., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2024). Virtual reality assessment of attention in traumatic brain injury: effectiveness and ecological validity. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/mti8010003
  5. Matison, A. P., Flood, V. M., Lam, B. C. P., Lipnicki, D. M., Tucker, K. L., Preux, P.-M., … Kosmidis, M. H., … Reppermund, S., & Mather, K.A. for Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC) (2024). Associations between fruit and vegetable intakes and incident depression in middle-aged and older adults from 10 diverse international longitudinal cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2024 Aug 15:359:373-381. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.096.
  6. Megari, K., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2024). Protecting the brain while healing hearts: The protective role of cognitive reserve in cardiac surgery. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(2), 195-204. org/10.1016/j.jagp.2023.10.003
  7. Moza, S., Scarmeas, N., Yannakoulia, M., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G. M., Sakka, P., & Kosmidis, M. H. (2024). Critical menarche age for late-life dementia and the role of education and socioeconomic status. Neuropsychology, Development, and Cognition B: Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition. 8: 1-19. doi: 10.1080/13825585.2024.2386314.
  8. Orologa, E., Chatzopoulos, G., Nikolaidis, D., Kosmidis, M. H., & Proios, H. (2024). The importance of response times measures in verbal fluency tasks. Psychology, 29, 71–81.
  9. Rizkallah, J., Staios, M., Analytis, P., Kosmidis, M. H., March, E., & Stolwyk, R. J. (2023). Exploring how sociocultural factors affect the experience of completing neuropsychological assessments within older Greek-Australians. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 39(1), 65-77. doi: 1093/arclin/acad044
  10. Sampatakakis, S. N., Mourtzi, N., Charisis, S., Kalligerou, F., Mamalaki, E., Ntanasi, E., Hatzimanolis, A., Koutsis, G., Ramirez, A., Lambert, J. C., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Sakka, P., Rouskas, K., Patas, K., & Scarmeas, N. Cerebral amyloidosis in individuals with Subjective Cognitive Decline: From genetic predisposition to actual cerebrospinal fluid measurements. Biomedicines. 2024 May 10;12(5):1053. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12051053.
  11. Sampatakakis, S. N., Mourtzi, N., Charisis, S., Mamalaki, E., Ntanasi, E., Hatzimanolis, A., Ramirez, A., Lambert, J. C., Yannakoulia, M., Kosmidis, M. H., Dardiotis, E., Hadjigeorgiou, G., Sakka, P., & Scarmeas, N. (2024). Genetic predisposition for white matter hyperintensities and risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease: Results from the HELIAD study. Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 46, 934–947. 2024 Jan 22;46(1):934-947. doi: 10.3390/cimb46010060
  12. Zhao, X., Xu, X., Yan, Y., Lipnicki, D. M, Pang, T., Crawford, J. D., … Kosmidis, M. H., … Sachdev, P. S., & Xin Xu, for Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC) (2024). Independent and joint associations of cardiometabolic multimorbidity and depression on cognitive function: findings from multi-regional cohorts and generalisation from community to clinic. The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific, 51(8):101198. doi: 1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101198

Distinctions

 

  • 2024, 2025   World’s Top 2% Scientists, Stanford University, for research for the years 2023 and 2024.
  • Keynote speaker, 3rd Panhellenic Conference of the Hellenic Neuropsychological Society, Oct. 10-12, 2025. Title of presentation: Early Life Factors Associated with Cognitive Decline/Dementia in Aging.
  • Invited speaker, Atlanta Veterans’ Administration Medical Center, Atlanta, GA, June 9, 2025. Title of presentation: Predisposing & protective factors in late-life cognitive functioning and dementia.
  • Keynote speaker, 52nd Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society, New York, NY, Feb. 14-17, 2024. Title of presentation: Neuropsychology & Literacy.
  • Invited speaker, Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Conference, Baltimore, MD, Feb. 20, 2024. Title of presentation: Predisposing, protective, & predictive factors in dementia: The search for modifiable risk factors

 

Awards

  • 13 awards for conference presentations in national and international conferences.

 

Grants

  • Three grants to host visiting scholars (Onassis Foundation, Niarchos Foundation), 11 research grants (European Commission, National, AUTh) as PI, team leader, or to support doctoral and post-doctoral researchers.