Athanasia was a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre until 2021. Her most recent research involves examining the validity of the Export-Led Growth hypothesis in the GCC region and the causality between fuel-mining exports, re-exports and economic growth in the UAE. Her work additionally focuses on the effect of technology transfer on human capital and economic growth in the GCC countries. Her PhD examined the causal relationship between merchandise exports and economic growth in the UAE, using advanced multivariate time series analysis.
Previously, Athanasia was Principal Investigator on a collaborative research project with the American University of Sharjah, UAE Ministry of Finance and UAE University, titled: 'Export Composition and Economic Growth in the UAE: A Multivariate Time Series Analysis (1981-2017)'. The project aimed to provide evidence on whether non-oil exports cause long-run economic growth in the UAE, while a deeper disaggregation of the non-oil export components will contribute to the process of designing future policies away from oil. Athanasia also led the Kuwait Programme project entitled 'Beyond Oil: Trade Diversification and Economic Growth in Kuwait', which examined the causal relationships between disaggregated exports, disaggregated imports and economic growth in Kuwait.
Athanasia also serves as a Quantitative Skills Tutor at Queen Mary University of London. She was previously Unit Leader in Economics and Econometrics at Manchester Metropolitan University and External Lecturer in Development Macroeconomics at the University of Manchester. Prior to working in the UK, Athanasia served as Economist at University of Piraeus Research Centre in Greece. She holds a PhD in Economics, an MRes in Management and Business, an MSc in Sustainable Development, a BSc in Maritime Economics and a BSc in Economic Science from Greek and British universities.
Her consultancy work is focused on economic modelling, econometric analysis, trade diversification, energy reform and economic performance.