Perena Gouma, PhD, is a Fulbright Scholar and tenured Associate Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the State University of New York Stony Brook, NY, USA. Dr Gouma is a lead researcher in sensor technology, and recently developed a new nanomedicine tool called the 'Nanosensor Device for Breath Acetone Detection', which makes it possible to instantly detect and monitor disease by simply exhaling into a handheld device. Dr Gouma received a BS degree in Applied Physics from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece, a MS in Advanced Engineering Materials and an MPhil in Organizational Management, both from the University of Liverpool (UK), and a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Birmingham (UK).