world hellenic biomedical association 2nd summer …€¦ · world hellenic biomedical association...

World Hellenic Biomedical Association – 2nd Summer School in Biomedical Research & Management

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1st part: May 26 – June 2, 2013 – Monemvasia, Peloponnese, Greece

2nd part: June 3-4, 2013 – Sparta, Greece


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Contents

Description ............................................................................................... 2

Scientific board ....................................................................................... 3

Intructors .................................................................................................. 4

George P. Chrousos, MD, MACP, MACE, FRCP (London) ......................................................................... 4

George Kollias, Ph.D. ............................................................................................................................... 5

Walter J. Koch, Ph.D. ............................................................................................................................... 6

Eleftherios P. Diamantis, MD, PhD .......................................................................................................... 7

Evangelia (Litsa) G. Kranias, PhD ............................................................................................................ 8

Evangelos Michelakis, M.D. .................................................................................................................... 9

Diomedes E. Logothetis, PhD ................................................................................................................ 10

Spyros Kollias, MD ................................................................................................................................. 11

Panos Macheras, Ph.D. ......................................................................................................................... 12

Athanasios Mantalaris, PhD ................................................................................................................. 13

Paraskevi Evi Giannakakou, Ph.D. ......................................................................................................... 14

Nikos Scarmeas, M.D. ........................................................................................................................... 15

Constantinos Anagnostopoulos, M.D, Ph.D ......................................................................................... 16

Kyriakos E. Kypreos, Ph.D ...................................................................................................................... 17

George Z. Mentis, PhD .......................................................................................................................... 18

Anastasios (Tassos) Lymperopoulos, PhD, FAHA ................................................................................... 19

Despina Sanoudou, PhD FACMG CIbiol ................................................................................................. 20

George Geroulakos, MD, FRCS, DIC, PhD .............................................................................................. 21

Angelos M. Stergiou, MD ...................................................................................................................... 22

Nassos Alevizopoulos, PhD, MBA .......................................................................................................... 23

Dimitris Sakellariou, MD, PhD ............................................................................................................... 24

Alex C. Spyropoulos, MD, FACP, FCCP, FRCPC ....................................................................................... 25

Program ................................................................................................... 26

1st part................................................................................................................................................... 26

Satellite Symposium in Heart Failure .................................................................................................... 30

2nd part ................................................................................................................................................ 31


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Description

The World Hellenic Biomedical Association (WHBA) is a tax-exempt non-profit organization that was founded in the United Kingdom 20 years ago. Since 2010 the WHBA has transferred its domicile in the state of New York, USA, where it operates as a scientific tax-exempt entity. It consists of several medical and biosciences societies from around the world and has established direct or indirect (through societies) communication channels with approximately 3,000 physicians and bioscientists of Greek descent from approximately 30 countries in 5 continents. The Summer School in Biomedical Research & Management is an educational activity that the WHBA organizes every year. The aim of this activity is to expose prominent graduate and undergraduate students of medical and biosciences background to knowledge given by top-notch experts from the most advanced medical and biosciences research centers. In addition, the Summer School in Biomedical Research & Management aims to familiarize the students with “actual life” situations that scientists from Academia or the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industry deal with on daily basis.

Along these lines the program of the Summer School in Biomedical Research & Management is divided in two parts. The 1st part will take place in the beautiful scenery of Moemvasia, Peloponnese from May 26 to June 2, 2012. For this part 12 instructors and 2 plenary speakers of worldwide reputation will present the most recent breakthroughs and current trends in several topics of basic and clinical medical research. A Heart Failure symposium will also take place immediately after the conclusion of the 1st part. The students will then be transferred to Sparta, where they will attend lectures about drug development and successful placement of a new drug in the market that will be given by faculty of Pharmacy and associates of Merck, ΣELLAS Clinicals, Zestagen SA (Switzerland) and Metaplasis BiomedicalConsulting pharmaceutical company.

The scientific board of the Summer School in Biomedical Research & Management selected 51 students of undergraduate and graduate level among 120 applicants from universities in Greece and abroad. The students were selected according to their academic record and potential to develop to prominent figures of Academia or pharmaceutical industry. The combination of students from Greek and foreign universities aims to generate a bridge of excellence among prominent young trainees from several places in the world, as well as to facilitate the establishment of future international networks of excellence.


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Scientific board

Chairman of the scientific board George P. Chrousos, MD, MACP, MACE, FRCP (London) Professor and Chairman, First Dept of Pediatrics UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes University of Athens Medical School

Litsa Kranias, PhD Hanna Professor and Director Cardiovascular Biology Distinguished University Research Professor Co-Director, Cardiovascular Center of Excellence Department of Pharmacology & Cell Biophysics University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, USA

Diomedes E. Logothetis, PhD Professor & Department Head, Physiology and Biophysics Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA

Paraskevi Giannakakou, PhD Associate Professor of Pharmacology in Medicine Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA

George Z. Mentis, PhD Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology Columbia Univeristy, New York, USA


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Intructors George P. Chrousos, MD, MACP, MACE, FRCP (London)

Professor and Chairman, First Dept of Pediatrics

UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care & Chief of Endocrinology, Metabolism

and Diabetes - University of Athens Medical School, Greece

John Kluge Distinguished Chair in Technology and Society - Library of Congress, Washington DC

Prof. Chrousos is internationally recognized for his research on the glucocorticoid signaling system of the cell, on the diseases of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and on the physiological and molecular mechanisms of stress. His work has opened new horizons in our understanding of a spectrum of human complex disorders, including depression, the eating disorders, the metabolic syndrome and the inflammatory autoimmune and allergic diseases. His contributions span a range of medical disciplines, including Medicine, Pediatrics, Endocrinology, Psychiatry, Rheumatology, Allergy, Surgery, Oncology and Reproductive Medicine.

Dr. Chrousos has written over 650 original scientific papers and his work has been cited in more than 56,000 other scientific articles, an irrefutable testimony to the importance and influence of his research. He is one of the 250 most cited scientists internationally (ISI highly cited) included not only in the list of Clinical Medicine, but also in that of Biology and Biochemistry, and the highest cited clinical endocrinologist and pediatrician in the world. With an H index of 119, Dr. Chrousos is the top cited Greek Clinician and Clinical Researcher.

Dr. Chrousos has received numerous national and international awards and has given many lectures in the USA, Europe, Latin America and Japan. His awards include the 1987 Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award, US Endocrine Society, the 1992 Superior Service Award, U.S. Public Health Service, the 1997 Clinical Investigator Award, US Endocrine Society, the 1997 Hans Selye Award, Hans Selye Foundation, Montreal, Canada, the 1999 Pharmacia-Upjohn International First Prize for Excellence in Published Clinical Research, US Endocrine Society, the 1999 Novera Herbert Spector Award, International Society for Neuroimmunomodulation, Lugano, Switzerland, the 2000 Henning Andersen Prize, European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology, Brussels, Belgium, the 2002 Sir Edward Sharpey-Schafer Medal, British Endocrine Societies, the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award, International Society for Psycho-Neuro-Endocrinology, Glasgow, UK, the 2007 Henning Andersen Prize, European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology, Helsinki, Finland, and the 2008 Geoffrey Harris Prize in Neuroendocrinology, European Society of Endocrinology, Berlin, Germany. Among others, he is a Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Liege, Liege, Belgium (2003), and the Universita Politechnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy (2006). Recently he was honored with the 2011 Aristeion Bodossaki Award, the highest distinction for accomplishment in the Sciences in Greece.

Dr Chrousos was inducted as a Master of both the American College of Endocrinology and the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK. He currently is the past president of the European Society of Clinical Investigation. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Research, the Association of American Physicians, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Washington DC, USA, and the Academia Europaea, London, UK.

Prof. Chrousos run one of the best endocrine training programs in the world and fostered the careers of over 60 distinguished, award-winning, world-class physician-scientists. After a 25 year distinguished career in the Intramural Program of the NIH, where he made seminal original contributions and trained a generation of international leaders in Endocrinology, Dr. Chrousos returned to his country and has assumed leadership roles at the University of Athens and in Greek and European Medicine and Academia.


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George Kollias, Ph.D.

Acting Director of the Institute of Immunology Biomedical Sciences Research Center ‘Alexander Fleming’

Vari / Athens, Greece.

Dr. George Kollias, born in 1958, received his B.Sc. in Biology from the University Of Athens, Greece and Ph.D. training from 1980 to 1984 in

Molecular Biology at the National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece. He has post-doctoral experience in the field of gene structure and expression (Laboratory of Gene Structure and Expression, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, UK) and from 1990-2000 he established the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute in Athens, Greece. From 2000-2002, he was appointed Director of the Institute for Immunology at the Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", and from 2002-2010 he has served as the Center's President and Scientific Director. He is currently a Researcher and Director of the Immunology Section at BSRC Fleming. In May 2012 he was elected Professor of Physiology at the Medical School of the University of Athens.

George Kollias has a sound expertise in transgenic, gene mutational and knockout technology, molecular and cellular biology and immunology and is a leader in the field of TNF function in pathophysiology. He is highly cited for discovering disease pathways in animal models of chronic inflammation and autoimmunity, including proof of principle studies introducing the highly successful anti-TNF therapies for rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr Kollias is placed amongst the top cited European scientists in Rheumatology research for the period 1997-2008. He has published over 150 primary research articles in peer-reviewed journals and more than 35 reviews and commentaries. His work has received over 16.000 citations and an h-index of 60 (data from Researcher ID). His laboratory is supported by several competitive grants from European Commission and National sources as well as by the international biopharmaceutical industry. From 2005 - 2009 Dr. Kollias coordinated a consortium of 24 EU organizations constituting the FP6 Network of Excellence MUGEN ("Functional Genomics in mutant mouse models as tools to investigate the complexity of human immunological disease", 11M€). He is currently a core member of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) project BeTheCure (Total budget: 38 Mi€, 2011-2016). In 2005 he founded the first CRO-biotech spin-off of BSRC Fleming, Biomedcode Hellas SA.

Since 2000, Dr. Kollias is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). He serves as an advisor for scientific organizations and consults for industry. Dr. Kollias also serves as invited speaker and chairman and as a member of the Organizing and Scientific Committees of several scientific meetings throughout the world. Dr. Kollias has been a member of the National Council on Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development (2001-2003 and 2005-2009) and has served as an elected President of the Council of the Directors of the Greek Research Centers (2009-2010). He is currently the National Representative of Greece for the ESFRI (European Research Forum on Research Infrastructures) and member of the ESFRI working group on Health and Food.


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Walter J. Koch, Ph.D.

Chairperson and Professor, Dept of Pharmacology Director, Center for Translational Medicine

Temple University, Philadelphia, USA

Dr. Walter J. Koch is a Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the

Center for Translational Medicine at Temple University School of

Medicine. This position is a new one for Dr. Koch (February, 2012) as

previously he was the W. W. Smith Professor of Medicine and Center

Director at Thomas Jefferson University (2003 – 2012). Dr. Koch received

his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics in 1990 in the Lab of Dr. Arnold Schwartz at the University

of Cincinnati. Following this he began a Howard Hughes Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Laboratory of

Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz at Duke University Medical Center. In 1995 he was recruited to start a molecular

cardiovascular biology laboratory in the Department of Surgery at Duke. Dr. Koch moved to Jefferson in

2003 to build the Center for Translational Medicine where he successfully recruited 10 primary tenure-

track faculty. These Center faculty members under Dr. Koch’s leadership carried out basic and

translational studies in cardiovascular disease. He is building such a Center at Temple where he is

recruiting into the newest research enterprise and building on campus. Specifically in the Koch

Laboratory, studies are focused on the adrenergic receptor system in heart failure. Over the last two

decades the Koch lab has focused on the role of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) kinases (GRKs) and

the role they play in normal and failing heart function including how they regulate adrenergic receptors.

Recent research directions include carrying large animal pre-clinical studies in heart failure gene therapy

and also investigating the role of GRKs and ß-arrestins in cardiac repair through regeneration. Overall,

Dr. Koch has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles that have led to over 12,000 citations.

Dr. Koch has received numerous honors and awards including being named the 2011 Outstanding

Investigator of the International Society of Heart Research. Dr. Koch is currently well funded through the

NIH and holds a MERIT Award from the NHLBI and is the Principal Investigator of a Program Project

Grant. In 2010, Dr. Koch ended his tenure as Chair of the CCHF NIH study section and reviews grants for

several international committees. He currently is a member of the Recombinant DNA Advisory

Committee (RAC) of the NIH. He is an Associate Editor of Circulation Research and an Executive Editor

of Clinical and Translational Science. He is also currently the Chairman of the Basic Cardiovascular

Science (BCVS) Council of the American Heart Association


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Eleftherios P. Diamantis, MD, PhD

Professor of Clinical Biochemisty, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Diamandis currently serves as Division Head of Clinical Biochemistry at Mount Sinai Hospital and Biochemist-in-Chief at the University Health Network and is Professor & Head, Clinical Biochemisty, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His research activities evolve around discovery and validation of cancer biomarkers, proteomics, mass spectrometry and translational research. Dr. Diamandis received his B.Sc. in Chemistry, Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and M.D.

from the University of Athens, Greece and a Diploma in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Toronto, Canada. He is a Certified Clinical Chemist by the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and the American Board of Clinical Chemistry.

The research interests of Dr. Diamandis include: Kallikrein Biology and Pathophysiology, Proteomics, Tumor Markers, Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis and Metastatic Progression, Translational Research, Cancer Therapeutics, Male Infertility, Pathobiology and Biomarkers of Autoimmune Diseases and Neurodegeneration

Dr. Diamandis is a Member of 31 Journal Advisory Scientific and Editorial Boards. He has received numerous awards from both national and international organizations. These include: American Association for Clinical Chemistry Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievements by a Young Investigator (1985); Annual Research Excellence Award of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (1995); Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Toronto (1997); Distinguished Scientist Award, Clinical Ligand Assay Society (CLAS) (1999); American Association for Clinical Chemistry Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry in a Selected Area of Research (1999); Van Slyke Award, the New York Metro Section of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (1999); Distinguished Scientist Award, National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) (2000); Miriam Reiner Award from the Capital Section of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (2001); Abbott Award from the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine (ISOBM) (2002); Annual Education Excellence Award of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (2003); Frey-Werle Commemorative Gold Medal from the Frey-Werle Foundation (2007); The Morton K. Schwartz Award for Significant Contributions in Cancer Research Diagnostics from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) (2007); Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Biochemistry Award from the Ontario Society of Clinical Chemists (OSCC) (2008); The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC)/Abbott Award for Significant Contributions to Molecular Diagnostics (2009); Excellence in Biomedical Research Nemitsas Prize in Medical Sciences, Takis and Louki Nemitsas Foundation (2010); Dr. Diamandis is highlighted for his citation record in: The Provincial Government of Ontario document entitled “Ontario’s Innovation Agenda” (2010), [www.ontario.ca/innovation; page 11];.

Other major distinctions of Dr. Diamandis include his election as Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens, Greece (2005) and as Member of the Royal Society of Canada (2008). He has published 95 review papers, 493 research papers and co-authored 4 books and 22 book chapters. He is the inventor of 28 issued and 21 pending patents and supervised 19 MSc. and 22 PhD. theses.


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Evangelia (Litsa) G. Kranias, PhD

Professor of Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine,

Cincinnati, Ohio

Dr. Kranias is the Hanna Professor and the Director of Cardiovascular Biology in

the Department of Pharmacology & Cell Biophysics at the University of

Cincinnati College of Medicine. She is also a Distinguished University Research

Professor and the Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence. She

received her B.A. in Biology/Biochemistry from the University of Chicago in

1970 and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Northwestern University in 1974. She

subsequently trained as a postdoctoral fellow with R. A. Jungmann at Northwestern University Medical

School (1974-77), where she also served as Instructor in the Department of Biochemistry (1976-77). In

1978, she joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Her research defined the role of calcium cycling genes in the control of heart function and identified

novel targets for heart failure treatment. The Kranias team was also the first to identify human

mutations in calcium cycling genes and showed that these may predispose to arrhythmias and heart

failure. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the past 30 years,

often with multiple awards. She has been honored by the NIH prestigious Research Career Development

Award (RCDA) as well as a Method of Extension in Time (MERIT) Award. Dr. Kranias’ scientific

investigations have been published in over 225 original manuscripts and 75 invited reviews. She has

trained 22 Graduate students and 45 post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Kranias has given over 150 national

presentations and 100 international presentations. She is also the inventor of 15 issued and 3 pending

patents. She has organized and chaired numerous conferences and she has served on several review

panels and Editorial Boards.

Dr. Kranias has received many national and international awards and honors. These include the UC

Faculty achievement award, the George Rieveschl Jr. award for Distinguished Scientific Research, the

American Heart Association Samuel Kaplan award and the Janice Pfeffer award from the International

Society of Heart Research. In 2004, Dr. Kranias was named a Distinguished UC Research Professor and in

2008 she received the highest honor of the UC Medical Center, the Daniel Drake medal. In 2009, Dr.

Kranias was named one of the AHA Distinguished Scientists and in 2010, she was inducted to the

National Academy of Inventors Cincinnati Chapter. Dr Kranias received an Honorary Doctorate degree

(Doctor Honoris Causa) from the University of Athens and the Dean of the Medical School, University of

Athens, Greece in 2009 and she was elected as a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens in

2012. Dr. Kranias has been elected to the National Council of the Biophysical Society, the National

Council of the International Society of Heart Research and the International Council of the International

Society of Heart Research. She is a Founding Fellow of the International Society of Heart Research,

Fellow of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences of the American Heart Association, Fellow of the

International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences and Fellow of the Cardiovascular Section of the

American Physiological Society.


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Evangelos Michelakis, M.D.

Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology

Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Program

Canada Research Chair in Molecular & Mitochondrial Medicine

Vice-Chair - Research, Department of Medicine

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Evangelos Michelakis was born in Greece, where he went to Medical School at

the University of Patras. He completed training in vascular biology, Internal Medicine and Cardiology at

the University of Texas (Galveston), Yale University and University of Minnesota. He joined the faculty of

the University of Alberta in 1998 and since then he rose to the rank of full Professor. He is currently the

Vice Chair (Research) in the Department of Medicine. He founded and directs the Pulmonary

Hypertension Program and clinic at the University of Alberta since 2001. Dr. Michelakis is also a vascular

biologist and runs an active laboratory focusing on the discovery of novel therapies for pulmonary

hypertension. His group was the first to report with 2 small industry-independent clinical trials the

benefits of Viagra in pulmonary hypertension, which eventually led to the world-wide approval of this

drug in pulmonary hypertension. He is the chair-elect of the 3-CPR Council of the American Heart

Association and he is in the Editorial Boards of Circulation, Circulation Research, AJP (Lung) among

others. He is the Canada Research Chair in Applied Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine. Recently, he

has discovered intriguing similarities in the mitochondrial biology of pulmonary hypertension and

cancer, which have led him into an exciting translational research program in cancer as well. His work

has been published in Journals like Science Translational Medicine, Circulation, Circulation Research, JCI,

PNAS among others and has been featured in the lay press and media including the NY Times, The

Economist, Newsweek, CNN etc.


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Diomedes E. Logothetis, PhD

Professor & Department Head, Physiology and Biophysics Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA

Diomedes E. Logothetis received his undergraduate degree in Physics in 1980 and a Master’s degree in Psychology in 1981 from Northeastern University in Boston. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics in 1987 from Harvard University under the mentorship of David Clapham. After completing postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Drs. Bernardo Nadal-Ginard and Peter Hess at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Logothetis joined the faculty at

Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City at 1993 and the VCU faculty in 2008.

His research focuses on elucidating intracellular as well as cell-to-cell signaling mechanisms. His laboratory aims to understand the function of signaling systems making use of the information depicted in the three-dimensional structure of the macromolecules involved (proteins and lipids) and their interrelationships. His group has focused on signaling mechanisms leading to the control of the activity of Ion Channel proteins. These transmembrane proteins underlie the proper rapid communication of our brain cells allowing processes such as thinking and memory to occur, the control of the rhythmic contraction of our hearts, the release of insulin from our pancreas, the proper transfer of solutes in our kidneys. When they malfunction they lead to devastating diseases, such as epilepsy, fatal cardiac arrhythmias, diabetes and hypertension. Understanding in molecular detail how their activity is regulated is essential if we aspire to develop therapeutic agents to control their function during disease.

Dr. Logothetis has always enjoyed teaching. At both of his previous two institutions, Harvard Medical School and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, he lectured on Membrane Excitability / Ion Channels and Cardiovascular Physiology and directed laboratory exercises in Medical Physiology. At Mount Sinai he directed the Medical Physiology course for two years and also a Core Cell Biology course for five years. In addition, he organized and directed a graduate level course on “Ion Channels” for over 10 years and a “Methods in Biomedical Sciences” course for two years. He also participated in several other courses in Neurobiology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Biophysics and Cell Biology.

Dr. Logothetis has received several awards including the following:

2008: The Outstanding Mentor Award, Mount Sinai School of Medicine 2005: Student Council Appreciation Award, Mount Sinai School of Medicine 2000, 2001, 2002: Excellence in Teaching Award, first year graduate students, Mount Sinai

School of Medicine; 1992: Excellence in Teaching Award, first year medical students, Harvard Medical School

1986-1987: Albert J. Ryan Fellow, Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School 1980: Avrom Aaron Leve Award, Outstanding Psychology Student, Northeastern University

Source: Virginia Commonwealth University


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Spyros Kollias, MD

Professor, Institute of Neuroradiology,

University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. Kollias is a professor at University of Zurich in the Institute of Neuroradiology where he serves as the director of neuroMRI. He is well published and has funded research in functional MRI, DTI of brain and spinal cord, and cerebrovascular imaging using MRI. He is a frequently invited

speaker to the ASNR, ESNR and other venues.

The NeuroMRI provides State of the art clinical diagnostic service for the neurologically diseased patient in a routine and in an emergency basis in the fields of neurosurgery, neurology, neuro-ophthalmology, ORL, maxillofacial surgery, and traumatology. The clinical research of Dr. Kolias focuses on the fields of diagnostic and interventional neuroimaging, while his basic research is in the fields of high resolution neuroimaging and functional brain mapping. Dr. Kolias also teaches neuroimaging and MR technology for Neuroradiology residents, medical students, and postdoctoral students from the neuroscience disciplines

Dr. Kolias conducts research in the following fields:

i) Structural imaging of neural tissue and neurovascular anatomy: a) high-resolution imaging of the white matter using DTI for the investigation of brain and spinal myeloarchitecture with clinical applications in neuro-oncology, vascular disease, trauma, and MS, b) clinical applications of advanced imaging techniques including MRS, DTI, Perfusion MRI, for increasing the specificity of MR technology in brain tumors, vascular disease and neurodegeneration, c) high-resolution vascular imaging and investigations of hemodynamics in cerebral aneurysms using advanced computational applications (SNF funding) ii) Functional brain mapping using fMRI: several methodological and clinical projects have been pursued over the last years including methodological advancements and clinical applications. Specific on-going projects: a) functional organization of the sensorimotor system and its postlesional reorganization in patients with intracranial lesions (tumors, stroke) (SNF funding), b) functional analysis of brain plasticity and recovery of function in paraplegia (NCCR/SNF, IRP and industry funding), c) reorganization of language function in aphasic patients (NCCR funding), d) preoperative cortical mapping for treatment planning. iii) Advanced imaging of the spinal cord: including high-resolution anatomical imaging for accurate definition of gray and white matter, MR spectroscopy and fMRI for obtaining metabolic and functional information, and DTI for obtaining quantitative microstructural information on tissue composition with applications in oncological, vascular traumatic and neurodegenerative pathologies affecting the human spinal cord. (SNF, Swiss MS Society funding).

Source: Neuroscience Center, ETH & University of Zurich, Switzerland


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Panos Macheras, Ph.D. Professor, Founder and Director of the Laboratory of Biopharmaceutics and

Pharmacokinetics at the University of Athens, Department of Pharmacy

Panos Macheras received his B. Pharm. (1970) and Ph.D degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (1977) from the University of Athens, Greece. He also received a Ph.D degree (1981) in Biopharmaceutics-Pharmacokinetics from King's College, University of London, U.K.

Dr. Macheras has published more than 140 journal articles and three books in the field of Biopharmaceutics-Pharmacokinetics. His research interests include studies on drug dissolution and release, gastrointestinal absorption of drugs, drug-protein binding, drug-cyclodextrins interaction, bioequivalence, pharmacokinetics and applications of fractal concepts in biopharmaceutical systems. In 1988, he was Visiting Associate Professor at the College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan.

Dr Macheras serves on the Editorial Board of the journals, Pharmaceutical Research, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has served as a member of the Scientific Committee of the National Organisation of Drugs in Greece. He was appointed for one year (April 1997-April 1998) as vice president of National Organisation of Drugs. He received an Honourable mention at the Eurand Awards 2000 and he was the second place winner of the Eurand Awards 2003 for his work in oral drug delivery. He is also a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (Boston, 1997) and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (Washington DC, 2007).

He received a honorate degree (Doctor honoris causa), 2007 from the University of Bucharest, Romania. He was awarded a prize in Sciences of the Academy of Athens for the publication of the book “P. Macheras, A. Iliadis. Modeling in biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics: homogeneous and heterogeneous approaches. Springer- pp 435, 2006”. He was listed ( V.H. Lee Pharm. Res. 25, 2007-12 (2008)) among the top 25 contributing authors to Pharmaceutical Research from 1984 to 2008. Since 2009 is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists International Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the AAPS Paediatric Initiative Committee. He was voted second among the seven finalists for the Maurice-Marie Janot award (7th World meeting on Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Malta, 8-11 March, 2010). He was selected as the recipient of the 2010 Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress Research Achievement Award (New Orleans, LU, USA). He also received the nation-wide " 2011 Xanthopoulos-Pneumatikos Award for Outstanding Academic Teaching" in Greece.


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Athanasios Mantalaris, PhD

Professor in Biosystems Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK

Dr. Sakis Mantalaris is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Imperial College London. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2000 from the University of Rochester, USA.

His research interests lie in the areas of stem cell bioprocessing, tissue engineering and mammalian cell bioprocessing. Particularly his lab (BSEL), in collaboration with other groups, is seeking to develop a novel monitoring modality that allows the systematic development of clinically relevant culture systems and methodologies, which control and regulate stem cell self-renewal, expansion, differentiation, and death. Ultimately, such a breakthrough will lead to the engineering of reproducible, well-characterised, regenerated “designer” tissues and organs that meet the strict regulatory criteria for clinical applications. Furthermore, his laboratory is currently working in developing intergated processes and culture systems for the expansion and differentiation of embryonic stem cells. In addition, his laboratory is seeking to provide integrated solutions to tissue engineering problems working close with material scientists and modellers to develop suitable scaffolds and culture systems for a variety of applications ranging from bone marrow, bone, cartilage, pneumocytes, and cardiomyocytes, as well as developing ex vivo models for disease states, such as leukaemia. Moreover, his group’s research focuses on mammalian cell bioprocessing. Animal cell technology is an area of rapid expansion and one that produces a wide range of high-value products, including vaccines, recombinant proteins, drugs for cardiovascular, respiratory and immune diseases, and monoclonal antibodies. commercial synthesis of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) represents one of the most important products in the biopharmaceutical industry because of their diagnostic and clinical applications. However, the production of industrial scale quantities of mAb is an expensive and challenging task. Models of animal cell culture systems have a wide range of potential applications, such as analysis and prediction of experimental results, optimisation of culture conditions for prolonged viability, and perhaps most importantly, the investigation of fundamental metabolic processes and their subsequent elucidation. His research programme sets out to integrate modelling, experiment design and validation, and control and optimisation into a single framework that would lead to increased productivity, regulated product quality, and reduced costs for mammalian cell culture systems. The integration of these three research tools represents a unique, novel, and interdisciplinary approach to addressing the complicated research and industrial problem of model-based control and optimisation of mammalian cell culture processes.

Dr. Mantalaris has received several distinctions including the following: - Rector's Award for Research Excellence, Imperial College London, 2006 - Governor's Lecturer, Imperial College London, 2000 - Junior Moulton Award, Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2004 - Young Investigator Award, 7th International Conference on Cellular Engineering, 2005 - Best poster award, Tissue Engineering Society International, 2003


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Paraskevi Evi Giannakakou, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pharmacology in Medicine

Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA

Paraskevi Evi Giannakakou is Associate Professor of Pharmacology in

Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and

Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University,

New York, New York. She received her PhD in Pharmacology from

University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece and the

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD in 1997. Dr.

Giannakakou became Assistant Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the

Winship Cancer institute of Emory University in 2000 and was recruited to WCMC in 2005.

Dr. Giannakakou’s research is focused on the biology of the microtubule cytoskeleton in

cancer and the mechanism of action of antitumor drugs that target microtubules and are

used in cancer chemotherapy. More specifically, her research tries to identify the

intracellular trafficking and signaling pathways that require an intact and dynamic

microtubule network as well as the little-understood functional consequences of drug-

induced microtubule disruption and cell death. She is the co-leader of Project 2 in which she

proposed to study the effects of microtubule dynamics in three dimentional cell migration

and the cross talk between cancer-cell microtubules and the tumor microenvironment.

On March 1, 2012, Dr. Giannakakou became Director of Laboratory Research for the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology. She oversees the research activities within the Division, including basic science and translational research, in addition to oversight of education and training within the graduate and undergraduate programs in the Division. She is also a Chartered Member of the NCI’s Basic Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics (BMCT) Study Section from 2011- 2017. Dr. Giannakakou has received several distinctions throughout her career including the following:

2012 Hellenic Medical Society of NY, Kalapothakis Distinguished Female Scientist Award 2008 Winner, Department of Medicine Investigator Award, Weill Cornell Medical College 2007 Finalist, Department of Medicine Investigator Award, Weill Cornell Medical College 2003 Georgia Cancer Coalition Scholar 2001-2003 Avon Breast Cancer Scholar 2001 Young Investigator Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 1997-2000 Fogarty Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, NIH, NCI 1999 Young Investigator Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 1993-1997 Fogarty International Pre-doctoral Fellowship, NIH, NCI


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Nikos Scarmeas, M.D.

Associate Professor of Neurology, Columbia University New York, USA

& Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Athens, Greece

Dr. Nikos Scarmeas was born and raised in Athens Greece. After obtaining an

M.D. degree from the University of Athens he moved to the US and had Neurology residency training

and then a 2-year clinical fellowship in Aging and Dementia at Columbia University Medical Center. He

also completed a Masters degree in Biostatistics – Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health

at Columbia University.

Dr Scarmeas joined the faculty of Columbia University in 2002. He is currently an Associate Professor of

Neurology and shares his time between research and clinical work at Columbia University and in

University of Athens. His clinical work includes seeing elderly patients with dementias and cognitive

dysfunction, supervising and teaching of Medical students and Neurology residents.

His research interests have started from the topic of cognitive reserve (i.e. how higher IQ, education,

more demanding occupational attainments, or more engagement in cognitive-social-physical leisure -

lifestyle activities can help elderly cope better with the damage caused to their brains by Alzheimer’s

disease and aging and therefore reduce their risk for dementia and slow down their rates of cognitive

and functional decline). More recently, he has developed a special interest in the contribution of diet (in

particular composite dietary patterns such as a Mediterranean-type diet and others) and physical

activity in dementias and healthy aging.

Dr Scarmeas is the Principal Investigator in studies funded by either the Alzheimer's Association (IIRG) or

the NIH-NIA (RO1) and a Co-Investigator in multiple others. His research work has resulted in more than

100 original publications in highly esteemed journals (>3500 citations, H-index = 35) and multiple

presentations in internationally acclaimed scientific conferences - meetings. He reviews for more than

90 international scientific journals and international funding agencies including the Alzheimer’s

Association, the US National Institute of Health, the European Union Marie Curie programs etc.


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Constantinos Anagnostopoulos, M.D, Ph.D Investigator - Associate Professor

Nuclear Medicine, PET/CT - Clinical Research Center

Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens

Constantinos Anagnostopoulos M.D, Ph.D, FRCP, FRCR, FESC is an investigator-B (Level, Associate Professor). He is a Faculty member of BRFAA and works at the Clinical Research Centre leading its Division of Nuclear Medicine with focus on development of the Cardiovascular

Imaging programme and coordination of the Institute's strategy on translational imaging. He received his Medical Degree (M.D) from the University of Thessaloniki in 1985. He trained in Nuclear Medicine at the Theagenio Hospital of Thessaloniki and completed his post-graduate training at the Royal Marsden and Royal Brompton Hospitals in England and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, US. During his post-graduate training he acquired expertise in Nuclear Cardiology and hybrid imaging (PET/CT and SPECT/CT).

He received his Certificate for Completion of Specialist Training (CCST), London UK, in 1996 and his Ph.D from the University of Athens in the same year after completing a joint research program between the latter and the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London UK. He has been awarded the Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) in 2000, and also the Fellowships of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR) and the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

He was Senior Lecturer in Nuclear Medicine at the Institute of Cancer and the William Harvey Research Institute of Barts and The London School of Medicine, where he was also Head of the Nuclear Medicine-PET/CT Department (2008-2010). Before this post, he had a joint appointment at the Royal Brompton and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital as Consultant in Nuclear Medicine and Hon. Senior Lecturer at the Imperial College (from 1998 to 2008). He was also Hon. Senior Lecturer at the University College London, UK from 2006 to 2011.

Dr Anagnostopoulos has served as President of the British Nuclear Cardiology Society of and Council member both of the British Cardiovascular Society and the British Nuclear Medicine Society (2002 and 2003) and also of the European Society of Cardiology working group in Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT (2002-2010). He has been advisor to the Department of Health, UK, through the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) on scoping the document; “Appraisal of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging” and external expert of the appraisal committee. He is member of the editorial board of leading specialty journals and he has also served as Guest Editor of HEART. He is chair and member of UK and European Guidelines Committees respectively and also book editor (Non Invasive Imaging of Myocardial Ischemia, Springer) and leading author or co-author of numerous book chapters and papers.

Dr Anagnostopoulos has an extensive range of national and international teaching activities. He collaborates with a number of European centres. His research interests focus on development, optimization, validation and application of nuclear and hybrid imaging techniques to study atherosclerosis and its consequences to the vessel wall and the myocardium, as well as on development of imaging strategies to support translational research. His pioneering work on comparative assessment of left ventricular function by novel radionuclide techniques and cardiac MRI, heart failure imaging, and more recently, on absolute perfusion quantification using PET/CT with Rubidium-82 has been cited extensively in the literature.


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Kyriakos E. Kypreos, Ph.D.

Associate Professor in Pharmacology, Department of Medicine

University of Patras School of Health Sciences

Rio Achaias, TK. 26500, Greece

Dr Kyriakos Kypreos received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1998 from

Boston University Medical School. Following post-doctoral training in

the U.S.A and the Netherlands, in 2004 he became Instructor and in

2006 Research Assistant Professor in Medicine at Boston University.

Since 2008, he serves as Associate Professor in Pharmacology at The University of Patras School of

Health Sciences, Department of Medicine, in Greece.

Dr. Kypreos’ team research the mechanisms underlying the development of the pathological conditions

associated with metabolic syndrome with emphasis placed in the lipoprotein transport system and

steroid sex hormones. Ultimate goal of their studies is the identification of novel pharmaceutical targets

and the development of lead biological compounds for the treatment of these conditions.

In addition to basic research, Dr. Kypreos has extensive teaching experience. He teaches on a regular

basis the courses of Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics offered to the medical students of the

University and participates in the teaching of graduate courses offered by the “Graduate Program in

Basic Medical Sciences” of the Department of Medicine.

Dr. Kypreos is an EMBO Fellow, a Marie-Curie Fellow, and the winner of the 2002 “Irvine H. Page”

Atherosclerosis Research Award by the ATVB council of the American Heart Association. His research

activities are funded by research grants from the Hellenic GSRT, the European Research Committee

(FP7) and the Industry.


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George Z. Mentis, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology,

Columbia University New York, USA

George Mentis received his BSc in Physiology and his MSc in

Neurological Science from University College London (UCL) and his PhD

from Imperial College School of Medicine in the UK. He then worked as a

postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.

At the end of 2009 he was recruited as Assistant Professor to the Center of Motor Neuron Biology and

Disease in the Dept. of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University in New York.

The research in his laboratory focuses on two major topics in the field of spinal cord development and

disease.

1. The development and function of spinal motor circuits involved in the genesis and maintenance of

locomotor activity.

2. The pathogenesis of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a fatal, inherited neuromuscular disease caused

by the degeneration of motor neurons.

His group’s studies have shown that there are significant defects in the sensory-motor circuitry prior to

any motor neuron loss. The reduced synaptic responses in spinal motor neurons raises the possibility

that degeneration of pre-motor neurons may contribute to the progression of SMA, and so provide a

novel cellular target for therapeutic development.

He has over 30 peer-review publications in top Neuroscience journals and has received the 2006 Fellows

Award for Research Excellence at the NIH and the 1st Audrey Lewis Young Investigator Award from

Families of SMA in 2010.


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Anastasios (Tassos) Lymperopoulos, PhD, FAHA Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences,

Nova Southeastern University, USA

Dr. Lymperopoulos currently serves as Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

at Nova Southeastern University`s College of Pharmacy in Fort Lauderdale,

Florida, USA. His research interests focus on studying the biology and

regulation of some very important cell surface receptors, called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs),

such as adrenergic receptors and receptors for angiotensin II, in the pathophysiology of heart failure

and, more broadly, in the neurohormonal control of the circulation. The main goal of Dr.

Lymperopoulos`s studies is discovery of new and innovative drugs for countering the cardio-toxic actions

of catecholamines, angiotensin II and aldosterone (and also of other hormones) in heart failure.

Particular focus is given on the role of these receptors in adrenal gland function in relation with the

cardiovascular system, thus providing clues for new treatments for cardiovascular disease. The research

interests of Dr. Lymperopoulos include: Molecular pharmacology, physiology and biology of G protein-

coupled receptors; Heart Failure; Cardiovascular Disease; Neurohormonal control of the Circulation;

Adrenal Physiology and Pharmacology; Receptors for Adrenaline and Noradrenaline; Catecholamines;

Receptors for Angiotensin II; Aldosterone production regulation; Regulation of Adrenergic and

Angiotensin Receptors; G protein-coupled receptor Kinases; Beta-Arrestins; Novel “Biased” G protein-

coupled Receptor Ligands.

Dr. Lymperopoulos`s research has already culminated in several successes, awards and honors, the most

prominent among which being his lead author publication in the prestigious journal “Nature Medicine”

in 2007, the highest-rated journal in biomedical research in the world, and a 4-year Scientist

Development Grant award from the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2009. In addition, he has been

a post-doctoral research fellow of the AHA for a total of three years in the past, a finalist for the AHA-

sponsored Melvin L. Marcus Young Investigator Award in Basic Cardiovascular Sciences in 2006 and for

the Cardiovascular Research Award of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences of the European

Society of Cardiology (ESC) in 2010, holds two (provisional) research patents, and currently serves on the

Editorial Boards of four peer-reviewed journals and as a regular peer-reviewer for several prestigious

journals, including “British Journal of Pharmacology”, "Circulation Research", “American Journal of

Cardiology”, and “Hypertension”, and as a grant reviewer for AHA and the AACP (American Association

of Colleges of Pharmacy). In addition, he was elected Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA)

last year. Finally, he has numerous publications in various prestigious scientific journals, such as: Nature

Medicine, Circulation, JACC, PNAS, JBC, Molecular Pharmacology, etc.


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Despina Sanoudou, PhD FACMG CIbiol Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Athens

Despina Sanoudou is an Assistant Professor at the Pharmacology Department of

the Medical School at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and in

charge of the Pharmacogenomics team. She is focused on

Genomics/Pharmacogenomics and serves as an Expert Reviewer in this field at

the European Union, the French Agency against Myopathies and the Greek Scholarship Foundation. Dr

Sanoudou has been involved in the development and has extensively used microarray technologies

during the past 10 years, with 47 research publications (PubMed), 150 conference abstracts and 120

invited talks. As evidenced by her publication record, she has contributed to i) the elucidation of

molecular mechanisms implicated in the development of myopathies and cardiomyopathies, ii) the

identification of molecular signatures that could improve diagnosis of muscular diseases, iii) the

discovery of novel pathways involved in the response to anti-lipidemic treatments, and iv) the selection

of promising new molecular targets for combating hyperlipidemia.

Dr Sanoudou has received multiple awards for her research work including the UNESCO award for young

women in science, the European Society for Human Genetics, the Panhellenic Union of Bioscientists, the

Hellenic Cardiological Society and others. She is an Editorial Board member for 7 and serves as reviewer

for another 16 international scientific journals.

Dr Sanoudou’s research is currently funded by competitive research grants from the European Union

(FP6 and FP7) and the Hellenic Cardiological Society, the Leducq Foundation and the U.S. National

Institute of Health.

As an educator, she teaches in the undergraduate course of the Medical School as well as in 9 MSc

Programs at the University of Athens and the University of Crete. She has served as supervisor and

mentor to 28 post-doctoral fellows/ PhD/ MSc/ BSc students. Dr Sanoudou established and directs a

High School Outreach program that has hosted over 1,500 students to date. Additionally, she is an active

member of the Alumni Mentor Program at the University of Hertfordshire- UK.


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George Geroulakos, MD, FRCS, DIC, PhD Clinical Reader in Vascular Surgery, Imperial College

& Consultant Vascular Surgeon Ealing and North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, Hon Consultant, Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust

President, Section of Vascular Medicine in the Royal Society of Medicine, London

Vice President, International Society for Vascular Surgery Vice President, the Geroulakos Foundation of Scholarships in

Undergraduate Medicine in Laconia, Greece Associate Editor, International Angiology

Present Appointments Reader in Vascular Surgery, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery, St Mathew’s University Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Ealing and North West London Hospitals NHS Trust Past Appointments Lecturer in Surgery, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London,UK Instructor in Surgery and vascular fellow, The Ohio State University Hospital, USA Societies Memberships: Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland, European Society for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, International Union of Angiology (Advisor to the President), Zollinger Surgical Society (USA), Hellenic Medical Society of GB (President 1999-2000) Fellowships: Royal Society of Medicine (President of Angiology), Royal College of Surgeons of England, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, International Society for Vascular Surgery (Vice President) Surgical Interests The management of the disease of the arteries and veins Research Interests The vulnerable carotid plaque, Venous haemodynamics, Intermittent pneumatic compression, technology for the management of vascular disease, The management of venous leg ulcers and varicose veins, Gene therapy for the management of peripheral vascular disease, Thoracic outlet syndrome Publications More than 150 publications on vascular topics, including venous disorders listed in Pub Med Books Contributor of 24 chapters in medical books. Principal Editor of 3 books Examining Examiner of the University of London Member of the Court of Examiners, the Royal College of Surgeons of England (2001-2003) Lectures Lecturer and organiser of international conferences in vascular surgery Teaching undergraduate medical students and postgraduate trainees in surgery


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Angelos M. Stergiou, MD

Founder, CEO & Chairman of SELLAS Clinicals

Athens, Greece

Dr. Angelos Stergiou, Founder, CEO & Chairman of SELLAS, has held

international positions of increasing responsibility in pharma and

biotechnology companies as well as Clinical Research Organizations over the

past 10 years. He has held specific roles ranging from Medical Director to

Head of Clinical Research and Vice President of Drug Development and Research at publicly traded

companies in Europe and the US such as PAION AG, Accentia BioPharmaceuticals, Biovest International

and Anavex Life Sciences. He was also the co-founder of a multi-speciality CRO in New York, USA,

Genesis BioPharma Group. Dr. Stergiou has had numerous interactions with the FDA, EMEA and EU

health authorities in addition to regulatory exposure in Australia and Japan. He holds a Doctor of

Medicine degree and has had clinical training both in the USA and Europe. Dr. Stergiou is a frequent

speaker and guest lecturer at European and US institutions such as Columbia University and his alma

mater as graduate of Kentucky Wesleyan. He has performed elective clinical speciality training in

interventional cardiology at the General Hospital Hagen (Germany) and cardiac surgery at the University

of Cologne and collaborated in clinical trial endeavors with prestigious academic centers such as the

University of Kentucky, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital of Harvard University, MD Anderson Cancer

Center, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Mayo Clinic, New York University, University of

California San Francisco, University of California Los Angeles, University of Heidelberg and others. Dr.

Stergiou is an active member of the World Medical Association, the American Academy of

Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators, the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and the

International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.


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Nassos Alevizopoulos, PhD, MBA CEO of Zestagen SA (Switzerland) and Senior Partner at Metaplasis

Biomedical Consulting (Switzerland)

Nassos Alevizopoulos has 20 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals. He

is CEO of the cancer biotechnology company Zestagen SA (Switzerland) and

Senior Partner at Metaplasis Biomedical Consulting (Switzerland).

Previously he was Senior Vice President, Drug Development & Licensing at

Regulon Inc. (USA), where he oversaw the award of an orphan drug in pancreatic cancer by the

European Medicines Agency. Other career stints were: CEO at Biomedcode SA (arthritis CRO) & Bionova

Ltd (biotech transfer), COO at Dyonmed S.A. (medical devices), Business Planning & Analysis Manager

(Novartis) and Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at Novartis. Nassos is the recipient of the Swiss Brunner

Prize of scientific excellence for the best of 181 PhDs in reference to his doctorate in Molecular Biology

from Lausanne University, where he also earned an MBA in Strategy & Finance.


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Dimitris Sakellariou, MD, PhD Medical Advisor, Merck Group BU CardioMetabolicCare & General

Medicine – Cardiometabolic diseases

Specialty / Affiliation: Cardiology / “ATHENS EUROCLINIC” Hospital / Medical Advisor in CMC and General Medicine Products of Merck KGaA Department in Greece EDUCATION -1991 - 1997: Medical School of National University of Athens, Greece. -July 1997: Medical Diploma. -September 1984: License to practice Medicine.

RURAL MEDICAL SERVICE October 1997 – December 1998: as General Practitioner.

POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION AND MEDICAL PRACTICE -12/2005: PhD thesis: “ Ventilatory response in the cardiopulmonary exercise test as an independent survival risk factor in patients with chronic heart failure”, Medical School of National Univ. of Athens -3/2001 –03/2003: S. House Officer in Internal Medicine, “Konstantopoulio Hospital, Athens, Greece -10/2005 – 10/2009: S. House Officer in Cardiology, “Enagelismos” Hospital, Athens, Greece - 10/2000- 10/2009: Research Fellow in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing and Rehabilitation laboratory of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Dpt, National University of Athens - 10/ 2010- today: Medical Advisor in CMC and General Medicine Products Dept of Merck KGaA, Greece - 3/2010 – today: Consultant in 2nd Cardiology Dpt “Athens Euroclinic”

TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES - 09/2003- 9/2004: Teaching Assistant, “First Aid” Medical School of University of Athens - 9/2003-9/2005: Assistant instructor, “First Aid” on-line class National University of Athens

DISTINCTIONS - Award at 1st Panhellenic Congress of Heart Failure (Athens 1999) - 1st Prize at 3rd Panhellenic Congress of Heart Failure (Athens 2002) -2nd Prize at 8th State-of- the Art Interdisciplinary Review Course (Athens 2004) - Award at 6th Panhellenic Congress of Heart Failure (Athens 2005)

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES - 20 publications in international peer reviewed Cardiology Journals (Eur. J. Heart Failure, PACE, International Journal Cardiology, EJCPR etc) and 10 in Greek Cardiology Journal - More than 100 presentations in different areas of cardiovascular diseases


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Alex C. Spyropoulos, MD, FACP, FCCP, FRCPC Associate Professor of Medicine

Division of Hematology/Oncology, James P Wilmot Cancer Center University of Rochester Medical Center

Alex C. Spyropoulos, MD received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences

Center in Albuquerque, NM. He is board eligible in internal medicine. Dr. Spyropoulos was Founder and former Medical Director of the Clinical Thrombosis Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Pharmacy at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, he developed a clinical thrombosis curriculum as part of the ambulatory medicine rotation. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncolgy at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Chest Physicians, International Academy of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Haemostasis, and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Canada. As a disease management consultant on anticoagulation in a managed care setting, Dr. Spyropoulos has helped to develop protocols at a national level using LMWH in outpatient-based treatment of venous thromboembolic disease, patient self-testing of warfarin, perioperative “bridging” for patients on chronic anticoagulation, post-operative DVT, medical inpatient prophylaxis, protocols with regards to the use of direct thrombin inhibitors for HIT, and clinical use of new anticoagulants and in special patient populations. Dr. Spyropoulos is active in assessing outcome analyses of these protocols, especially with regards to the implementation, safety, efficacy, and pharmacoeconomic indicators, and has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally on these issues. He has been involved as Principal Investigator, Scientific Committee member, Steering Committee member, or member of Data Safety Monitoring Board in multiple international, multicenter outcomes and clinical studies in thrombosis. He is also a Steering Committee member of the NHLBI BRIDGE study. He is a founding member of ATLAS, a US-based ARO-CRO in thrombosis-related research. He is a panel member of a US national experts consensus group for clinical excellence in thrombosis management, a member of the Anticoagulation Forum and the Thrombosis/Haemostasis Society of North America, and co-author for the 8th and 9th ACCP Antithrombotic Guidelines, the 2008 International Consensus Statement Guidelines on periprocedural management of antithrombotic therapy and is currently senior author for the 2012 International Consensus Statement on venous thromboembolic disease. He is senior editor for Clinical Applied Thrombosis and Haemostasis and is on the editorial staff for Thrombosis Research and Hospital Medicine. He is a reviewer for many journals including Chest, Circulation, and Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Archives of Internal Medicine. Dr. Spyropoulos’ articles, letters, and editorials have been published in over 100 peer-reviewed journals including Chest, Blood, American Journal of Medicine, Circulation, Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, Clinical Applied Thrombosis Haemostasis, Thrombosis Research, Thrombosis Haemostasis, American Journal of Cardiology, and Journal of Thrombosis Haemostasis


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Program

1st part

Kinsterna Hotel, Agios Stephanos, Monemvasia, Peloponnese

Sunday – May 26, 2013

6:00 – 8:30

Opening session

Welcoming remarks

Konstantinos Drosatos, MSc, PhD

President of the World Hellenic Biomedical Association

6:15 – 7:15

Distinguished lecture

Professor Georgios P. Chrousos Chairman of the Scientific Board of the Summer School

“Welcoming Address: In Search of Wisdom” and

“The Profound Impact of Stress on Human Biology”

Break

7:30 – 8:30 pm Keynote lecture

George Kollias, PhD Director of the Institute of Immunology

Biomedical Sciences Research Center ‘Alexander Fleming’ Vari, Athens, Greece

“A quarter century journey in biomedical research and innovation in beautiful Greece”


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Monday, May 27, 2013

Morning session (8:15 am - 11:00 am)

8:15 – 9:30 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Eleftherios P. Diamandis The kallikrein gene family: Physiology, pathobiology and clinical applications

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Despina Sanoudou Applications of whole genome arrays in basic research, clinical research and clinical practice

9:45 - 11:00 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Constantine Anagnostopoulos Nuclear Cardiology: an interphase between pathophysiology and clinical cardiology

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Athanasios Mantalaris Stem-cell based cellular therapies

Afternoon session (1:30 pm - 4:15 pm)

1:30 - 2:45 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Despina Sanoudou Technical/Experimental aspects of whole genome arrays

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Eleftherios P. Diamandis Proteomic strategies for discovering novel cancer biomarkers

3:00 - 4:15 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Athanasios Mantalaris Introduction to Stem Cells: from embryonic to adult

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Constantine Anagnostopoulos Radionuclide imaging: clinical applications and research potential in Cardiovascular Medicine

Evening session (5:15 – 7:00 pm) - Meet with the professors

Eleftherios Diamandis Table 1

C. Anagnostopoulos Table 2

Despina Sanoudou Table 3

Athanasios Mantalaris Table 4

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Morning session (8:15 am - 11:00 am) 8:15 – 9:30 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA)

Athanasios Mantalaris Stem cells

9:45 - 11:00 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA) Constantine Anagnostopoulos Nuclear Cardiology in Clinical practice

Afternoon session (1:30 pm - 4:15 pm) 1:30 - 2:45 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA)

Despina Sanoudou Whole genome arrays: Case studies to be distributed to teams of students, resolved and discussed in class

3:00 - 4:15 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA) Eleftherios P. Diamandis Pancreatic cancer and our quest for discovering novel biomarkers for early detection

Evening session (5:15 – 7:00 pm) - Meet with the professors Eleftherios P.

Diamandis Table 1

C Anagnostopoulos Table 2

Despina Sanoudou Table 3

Athanasios Mantalaris Table 4


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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Morning session (8:15 am - 11:00 am) 8:15 – 9:30 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA)

Nikos Scarmeas Dementias: an overview

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Diomedes Logothetis

Membrane-delimited modulation of ion channel activity

Break

9:45 - 11:00 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) George Mentis The motor unit and spinal reflexes

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Nikos Scarmeas Dementias: an overview


12:00 - 1:15 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Diomedes Logothetis Membrane potential: Ion movement - Forces and measurement

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) George Mentis The central pattern generator in locomotor activity

Meet with a professor (1:30 – 3:15 pm)

Diomedes Logothetis Table 1

George Mentis Table 2

Nikos Scarmeas Table 3

Thursday, May 30, 2013 Morning session (8:15 am - 11:00 am)

8:15 – 9:30 Joint lecture (Graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA) George Mentis Neuronal circuit dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases: the case of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Break 9:45 - 11:00 Joint lecture (Graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA)

Nikos Scarmeas Multiple choices on Dementia cases


Diomedes Logothetis Signaling through a heteromeric GPCR complex and its role in psychosis

Meet with a professor (5:15 – 7:00 pm)

Diomedes Logothetis Table 1

George Mentis Table 2

Nikos Scarmeas Table 3


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Friday, May 31, 2013

Morning session (8:15 am - 11:00 am) 8:15 – 9:30 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA)

Kyriakos Kypreos

Introduction to the pharmacology of HDL

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Evangelos Michelakis Title: The metabolic basis of vascular remodeling in pulmonary hypertension

Break

9:45 - 11:00 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Spyros Kollias Stroke: from early diagnosis to timely therapy

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA)

Paraskevi Giannakakou Circulating Tumor Cells: From Bench Research to Clinical Practice


1:30 - 2:45 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA) Evangelos Michelakis Title: Mitochondria Revisited

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Kyriakos Kypreos Role of HDL in obesity, diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Break

3:00 - 4:15 Undergraduate lecture (Room: TBA)

Paraskevi Giannakakou Principles of Anti-Cancer Drug Therapy and Resistance

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA)

Graduate lecture (Room: TBA) Spyros Kollias Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)- connectivity of the human brain in-vivo

Evening session (5:15 – 7:00 pm) - Meet with a professor

Kyriakos Kypreos Table 1

Evangelos Michelakis Table 2

Evi Giannakakou Table 3

Spyros Kollias Table 4

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Morning session (8:15 am - 11:00 am) 8:15 – 9:30 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA)

Paraskevi Giannakakou Title: TBA

Break 9:45 - 11:00 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA)

Spyros Kollias Insights into the structure and function of the human brain


Kyriakos Kypreos Adenovirus: a versatile system for gene transfer

Break 2:30 - 3:45 Joint lecture (graduate and undergraduate) (Room: TBA)

Evangelos Michelakis Title: The metabolic basis of cancer

Evening session (4:15 – 6:00 pm) - Meet with a professor

Kyriakos Kypreos Table 1

Evangelos Michelakis Table 2

Evi Giannakakou Table 3

Spyros Kollias Table 4


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Sunday - June 2, 2013

Satellite Symposium in Heart Failure

Venue TBA

Chair: Evangelia (Litsa) Kranias (University of Cincinnati, USA) 10:00-11:00 Keynote Lecture

Walter J. Koch Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA & Chairman of the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council of the American Heart Association

Novel Roles for GRKS in Cardiac Injury and Repair 11:00 – 11:30 Evangelia (Litsa) Kranias

Professor, University of Cincinnati, USA Calcium Cycling Circuits in Heart Failure

Break 12:00 – 12:30 Evangelos Michelakis

Professor, University of Alberta, Canada The mysterious Right Ventricle 12:30 – 1:00 Anastasios (Tassos) Lymperopoulos

Assistant Professor, Nova Southeastern University, USA Adrenal GRK2 and beta-arrestins in heart failure: Fine-tuning the neurohormonal regulation of the heart

1:00 – 1:30 Constantine Anagnostopoulos

Associate Professor, Institute for Biomedical Research, Academy of Athens, Greece

Radionuclide Imaging of the Failing Heart


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2nd part

Maniatis Hotel, Sparta, Peloponnese3- June 4, Sparta

Monday, June 3, 2013

Morning session 9:00 – 12:00 Nassos Alevizopoulos

“Transferring, Protecting, Discovering, Developing, Financing & Valuating Biomedical Innovations”

Afternoon session

3:00 – 4:30 Panos Macheras “Drug development. Making a scientific discovery marketable”

Break

5:00 -6:30 Angelos Stergiou “Insight to clinical research. Adjusting drug selection and treatment to patient needs”

Evening session

7:00 – 8:00 Discussion with George Geroulakos “How to write and get published: From a stimulating abstract to a well written scientific paper”

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Morning session 8:30 – 10:30 Panos Macheras

From the assessment of bioequivalence of generics to the modern era of biosimilars

Afternoon session

3:00 – 4:15 Dimitris Sakellariou "Clinical trials with cardiovasular drugs: The successful and failed drugs. The results are not always pleasant

Break

4:45 – 6:15 Angelos Stergiou “Raising capital strategies: Establishment of a biotech company”

Evening session

7:00 – 8:00 Discussion with Alex Spyropoulos “Brave New World: The Use of Novel Oral Anticoagulants for the Treatment of Thromboembolic Disease”

Wednesday, June 5 2013

Departure


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Undergraduate students

1 Diana Biongiorno University of Pennsylvania, USA

2 Agisialos Balatsoukas University of Athens Medical School, Greece

3 Elena Madan University of Pennsylvania, USA

4 Lien Trieu Villanova University, USA

5 Danae Manolakou University of Athens Medical School, Greece

6 Michael Chan University of Pennsylvania, USA

7 Adriana Baranov State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemitanu" , Republic of Moldova

8 Alexandra Dimitriou University of Athens, School of Biology, Greece

9 Anna Raveti University of Turin, School of Medicine, Italy

10 Anthos Christofides University of Athens Medical School, Greece

11 Ahmed Halima Mansoura Manchester Prog. for Medical Education, Egypt

12 Tarik Exner Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany

13 Jason Biniaris University of Athens Medical School, Greece

14 Argyro Papadopoulou University of Athens Medical School, Greece

15 Konstantinos Tilemachos Kapanidis Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

16 Panagiota Birmpili School of Medicine, University of Patras

17 Themistoklis Vassilopoulos University of Athens, School of Biology, Greece

18 Evangelia Semizoglou Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Dept of Biology

19 Angeliki Evangelou University of Athens, School of Biology, Greece

Graduate students (MSc & PhD programs)

1 Maria Mavroudi Papanicolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki

2 Marios Krokidis Univ of Patras, School of Medicine

3 Ery Petropoulou Univ of Patras, School of Medicine

4 Rana Imani Tehran National Technical University

5 Magdalini Moschou Aristotle univ of Thessaloniki, Dept of Biology

6 Maria Aivalioti Univ of Patras, Dept of Biology

7 Chrisostomi Gialeli Univ of Patras, Dept of Chemistry

8 Dimitrios Anastasakis Univ of Patras, School of Medicine

9 Vassiliki Christina Panagiotopoulou Univ of Patras, Dept of Chem Engineering

10 Anastasios Kyventidis Aristotle Univ of Thessaloniki, School of Medicine

11 Natalia Palarie Medical & Pharmaceutical Univ of Moldova

12 Dimitris Nasias Univ of Athens, Medical School

13 Lemonia Chatzeli Imperial College, London, UK

14 Stella Baliou Univ of Crete, Medical School

15 Evangelia-Eirini Tsermpini University of Patras, Department of Pharmacy

16 Eleni Koutroumanidou Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School

17 Petar Scepanovic University of Turin Master's in Molecular Biotechnology

18 Iraklis Kyriakou Univ of Patras, Dept of Chemistry

world hellenic biomedical association 2nd summer …€¦ · world hellenic biomedical association...

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