Biography

With dual doctoral expertise spanning Biological and Medical Psychology (Biomedical Imaging) as well as Music Psychology, I specialize in bridging Neuroscience, Neonatology, and Medical Psychology, specifically driven by the question of how the brain develops during the first 1500 days of life. To address this, I employ a multimodal approach that integrates neuroimaging, behavioral, and observational techniques, alongside computational methods. My overarching aim is to translate this research into clinical practice, particularly within the NICU setting. In this context, my work includes 

• Leading research, clinical and training initiatives focused on developmental neuroscience and translational care
• Designing and implementing computational neuroscience tools and pipelines, including AI-assisted analysis of neonatal EEG and auditory data
• Curating and managing high-dimensional datasets to support precision diagnostics and intervention
• Developing personalized sound and music-based interventions tailored to neurodevelopmental needs
• Integrating family-centered and individualized medicine into neonatal care frameworks
• Collaborating across disciplines to bridge cutting-edge neuroscience with bedside care.

I have been trained and worked in leading international institutions, including Harvard University, the Athinoula Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, the University of East Anglia, the UCL, University of London, the Oslo Metropolitan University and the University of Bergen, as well as the International Brain Research Organisation.

I actively publish in and review for major journals in the field, while I am frequently invited to review funding applications for several governmental agencies (e.g. Austria, Italy, Greece, UK). I am a member of the International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS), the Fetal Infant and Toddler Neuroimaging Group (FIT’NG), and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), UK. I also serve as a board member of the Bright Start Foundation for Maternal and Child Health (Switzerland), and as Associate and Guest Editor for Frontiers in Pediatric Psychology and Frontiers in Pediatric Neurology, respectively.

Beyond academia, I have experience in industry across Europe, the USA, and the Middle East, and throughout my career, I have advised entities such as the Foundation Botin in Spain, the Early Arts Foundation in the UK, and the Early Years TV Programs at the BBC, UK. In August 2023, I accepted the role of lead academic for Norway in the management committee of the EU Cost Action CA22111 - A European consortium to determine how complex, real-world environments influence brain development, while in 2024, I was also included in the roster of consultants for the World Health Organization’s Brain Health unit. Furthermore, I have been certified by the WHO as a specialist in Social Prescribing, a certification that recognizes my expertise in guiding individuals towards non-pharmacological sources of support and treatment, focusing on holistic well-being and development. Finally, after a personal invitation from Springer Nature publishing house, I have been recently appointed the editor and main author for the pioneering book titled Infant Neuroscience and Music: Insights into Development and Medicine (forthcoming in 2026)
 

Areas of specialization

• Neurobehavioural Development of Infants
• Quantitative Electroencephalography
• AI in the NICU data analysis
• Computational Neuroscience

Selected publications

• 1. Jaschke, A. C., Papatzikis, E., & Haslbeck, F. B. (2025). Medical Neurohumanities: Sharing Insights from Medicine, Neuroscience, and Music in Paediatric Care. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 19, 1648030. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2025.1648030
• 2. Papatzikis, E. (preprint, 2025) How to process infant electroencephalography (EEG) data: A critical review of 10 preprocessing pipelines on challenges, strengths, and future directions. Doi: https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202504.2375.v1
• 3. Papatzikis, E.; Dimitropoulos, K; Tataropoulou, K.; Kyrtsoudi, M.; Pasoudi, E.; O'Toole, J.M.; Nika, A. (2025). The father’s singing voice may impact premature infants’ brain more than their mother’s: A NICU single-arm exploratory study protocol and preliminary data on a singing and EEG framework based on the fundamental frequency of voice and kinship. PLoS One, 20(8), e0328211. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328211
• 4. Papatzikis, E., Agapaki, M., Selvan, R. N., Hanson-Abromeit, D., Gold, C., Epstein, S., Wun Lok, V. U., Barda, E., & Pandey, V. (2024). Music medicine and music therapy in pediatric care: A systematic review of passive music listening research applications and findings on infant development and medical practice. BMC Pediatrics, 24:829. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-024-05275-z
• 5. Papatzikis, E. (2024) Neuroimaging-Guided Music Interventions for Infants in the NICU, JAMA Pediatrics, 178(9): 853-854 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.1886
• 6. Papatzikis, E., Dimitropoulos, K., Tataropoulou, K., Kyrtsoudi, M., & Nika, A. (2024). Advancing EEG processing and analysis in neonatal music interventions: Introducing a specialized qEEG pipeline for premature infants in the NICU. Music & Medicine, 16(3), 194
• 7. Dimitropoulos, K., Papatzikis, E., Tataropoulou, K., Kyrtsoudi, M., & Nika, A. (2024). Assessing the impact of singing fundamental frequency (F0) on premature infants’ brain: A qEEG-based study in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Music & Medicine, 16(3), 190.
• 8. Agapaki, M., Pinkerton, E., & Papatzikis, E. (2024). Music and neuroscience research for mental health, cognition, and development: Ways forward. Music & Medicine, 16(3), 207
• 9. Papatzikis, E. (2024) Music and the Infant Brain: A Neuroscientific Approach. In Anagnostopoulou, C., Triantafyllaki, A., Koniari, D., and Drakoulaki, K. (Eds), Research and Applications in Music Psychology. (pp. 435-458). Hellenic Association for Music Education. ISBN: 978-6185821-03-6
• 10. Pliogou, V., Zaragas, H., Tromara, S., Koliopoulou, A., Papatzikis, E. (2024) Distance Education in Early Childhood Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Teachers’ and Parents’ Perspectives and Experiences in Greece. The Educational Review, USA, 8(1), 1-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2024.01.001
• 11. Bampa G., Moraitou D., Metallidou P., Masoura E., Papantoniou G., Sofologi M., Kougioumtzis G., Papatzikis E. and Tsolaki M. (2024) Metacognitive beliefs of efficacy about daily life situations and use of cognitive strategies in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Psychology. 15:1275678. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1275678
• 12. Bampa, G., Tsolaki, M., Moraitou, D., Metallidou, P., Masoura, E., Mintziviri, M., Paparis. K., Tsourou, D., Papantoniou, G., Sofologi, M., Papaliagkas, V., Kougioumtzis, G., & Papatzikis, E. (2023) Metacognitive Differences in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Healthy Cognition: A Cross-Sectional Study Employing Online Measures. Journal of Intelligence. 11(9):184. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11090184
• 13. Papatzikis, E., Agapaki, M., Selvan, R., Pandey, V. & Zeba, F. (2023) Quality standards and recommendations for research in music and neuroplasticity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 00, 1-14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14944
• 14. Papatzikis, E. (2023) Music and Brain: Looking at research conducted in the first 20 years of the century. In A. Dritsas, Music as Medicine (2nd ed.) ISBN 9789600241471
• 15. Agapaki, M., Pinkerton, E., & Papatzikis, E. (2022) Music and neuroscience research for mental health, cognition, and development: ways forward. Frontiers in Psychology – Health Psychology 13: 976883. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.976883
• 16. Papatzikis, E. (2022) An International Discourse on Music and Medicine. Music and Medicine, 14(3) doi: https://doi.org/10.47513/mmd.v14i3.891
• 17. Swanick, R. & Papatzikis, E. (2022) Achieving Behavioural Advancement through the Dynamic Maturation Model and the Assessment of Parent–Child Interactions in a Music Therapy Context. Behavioral Sciences 12(9):338. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12090338
• 18. Kabene, S.M., Neftci, N.B., & Papatzikis, E. (2022). Dissociative Identity Disorder and the law: Guilty or not guilty? Frontiers in Psychology – Forensic Psychology, 13:891941, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.891941
• 19. Chatzikostopoulos, A., Moraitou, D., Tsolaki, M., Masoura, E., Papantoniou, G., Sofologi, M., Papaliagkas, V., Kougioumtzis, G., Papatzikis, E. (2022) Episodic Memory in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia (ADD): Using the “Doors and People” Tool to Differentiate between Early aMCI—Late aMCI—Mild ADD Diagnostic Groups. Diagnostics. 12(7):1768. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12071768
• 20. Sofologi, M., Papatzikis, E., Kougioumtzis, G., Kosmidou, E., Klitsioti, A., Dourtme, A., Sourbi, A.A., Chrisostomou, D., & Efstratopoulou, M. (2022) Effectiveness of musical training on reading comprehension in elementary school children. Is there an associative cognitive benefit? Frontiers in Education – Educational Psychology, 7:875511. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.875511
• 21. Sofologi, M., Pliogou, V., Bonti, E., Efstratopoulou, M., Kougioumtzis, G., Papatzikis, E., Ntritsos, G., Moraitou, D., & Papantoniou, G. (2022) An investigation of working memory profile and fluid intelligence in children with neurodevelopmental difficulties. Frontiers in Psychology – Cognition 12:773732, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773732
• 22. Papatzikis, E., and Rishoni, H. (2022) What is music for neuroplasticity? Combined value on infant development and inclusion. In Efstratopoulou, M. (Ed.) Rethinking Inclusion and Transformation in Special Education. IGI Global. Doi: 10.4018/978-1-6684-4680-5. ISBN: 9781668446805

Projects

• “Panagiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - Principal Investigator in the S.N.A.R.E.N.E. project (Neurophysiological Auditory Responses in Early Neonatal Environments)
• “Panagiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – Principal Investigator in the FunFreqNICU project (clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT06398912 Studying Newborns' Brain Activity in the NICU Through a Musical Intervention: the Role of Fundamental Frequency)
• EU COST Action: CA22111 (2023-27) - A European consortium to determine how complex, real-world environments influence brain development (Management Committee Lead)