Maria Karekla, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy trainer, and Associate Professor, University of Cyprus, and heads the “ACTHealthy: Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine” laboratory. Her research focuses on areas of health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors (especially psychological flexibility parameters) as they relate to the development and maintenance of various behavioural difficulties. She also examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing process-based and Contextual Behavioral Science principles and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digital interventions, virtual reality) in line with precision and personalized medicine. This led to very successful digital interventions for which she received numerous local, European and international grants, and awards. She is appointed by the Cyprus Minister of Health to the National Strategic Planning Committee for Mental Health and the National Advisory Committee for Tobacco Control, and the Board on Medically Assisted Reproduction and previously in the National Bioethics Committee. She served as the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ (EFPA) Psychology and Health committee and is a member of the e-health task force.  She is the immediate past-President of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), from where she received the status of “Fellow” in 2019. In 2023 she became a fellow of the European Health Psychology Society and in 2021 by the Society of Behavioral Medicine, whereas in 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus “Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher category.” She has published more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 13 chapters in edited books, 3 books, 4 technical reports and numerous papers in scientific conference proceedings. Her first psychotherapeutic children’s story book was nominated for the 2017 National Literary Awards (category Children/Adolescents) and for her illustrations for the book. She is active in scientific journal editorial boards (e.g., Journal of Contextual Behavior Science). Moreover, she is a TEDx speaker and she has been hosted and interviewed for her work by numerous podcasts, newspapers, TV and radio stations nationally and internationally.