As a port city, Thessaloniki is a crucial point of entry for regional and international trade. At the laboratory, Vlachou was responsible for analysing local food samples and potential food imports to determine their conformity to regulatory standards. She also contributed to an EU alert system for informing other countries about food-related public health risks. 

Vlachou remembers one case where she discovered lead chromate in a shipment of turmeric. Lead chromate, which has a yellow-orange shade similar to turmeric, is sometimes used as a cheap—albeit toxic—filler in the spice. Other EU countries were alerted immediately to prevent further imports of the contaminated turmeric.

“The role carries a lot of responsibility, but I find the relationship between food science and regulatory legislation fascinating,” she said. 

While working full-time, Vlachou decided to pursue a part-time master’s in quality assurance. The degree programme provided her with greater knowledge of the importance of lab work in production processes —but her curiosity didn’t stop there.

In 2015, Vlachou pursued a second master’s degree in toxicology, which enabled her to become a European Registered Toxicologist.  “Making the link to human health by studying toxicology was crucial in my understanding of the field,” she reflects.

Three years later, Vlachou was selected by the European Food Safety Authority for a food risk assessment fellowship at the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, where she joined a network of experts to strengthen food risk analysis. “This experience sharpened my ability to integrate data analysis and statistics into risk assessments, which is an essential skill for science-based decision-making,” she says.

Today, in her role as Head of the Joint FAO/IAEA Food Safety and Control Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, Vlachou oversees research and method development for food safety, traceability and authenticity analysis using nuclear and complementary techniques. After working at the national and EU levels, she now applies her skills to the international level.

From authenticating coffee beans and olive oil to detecting lead in fruit juice and toxins in pistachios, Vlachou and her team develop tools and guidance to help countries protect both their economies and consumers,” she said.

The food safety lab also collaborates with other IAEA laboratories and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to tackle big challenges - food security, microplastic contamination, antimicrobial resistance risks in food and agriculture. “My team is amazing, and it has been truly rewarding to collaborate with the FAO on joint projects and interdisciplinary research.” Vlachou says. 

Her career path exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary learning, and how international cooperation helps integrating science into real-world applications. For young people in STEM, her advice is: “Learn broadly, build technical skills—and remember, practice makes perfect.”

The IAEA is committed to gender equality and to supporting the ability of all individuals, regardless of gender, to equally contribute to and benefit from its programmes and activities. 

Additionally, in 2020, the IAEA launched the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme (MSCFP) to support the next generation of women nuclear professionals by offering scholarships for master’s degree in nuclear-related fields. A new IAEA initiative launched in March 2023, the Lise Meitner Programme, offers early- and mid-career women multi-week training visits to nuclear facilities.  

Read more about the IAEA’s work on gender equality and apply for  vacancies, internships or pipelines.