With her expertise on peptide synthesis, Photaki examined the biocatalytic properties and kinetics of enzyme active site analogues she prepared.
Another research topic she developed in the early part of her career was the chemical transformation of carbohydrates and glycosylated species, such as the stereoselective conversion of -glucosamine to -serinaldehyde which formed the basis of her doctoral thesis.
Finally, she examined some of the coordination complexes formed by histidine-containing peptides with , ,  and , and after the antitumour properties of platinum complexes were realised, she also worked on the peptide enzymatic reactions in the presence of  amine complexes.