Roles
- Research Assistant Professor
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Biography
Dr Telonis is a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is a Biologist by training, graduating from the University of Patras, Greece with a B.Sc. in Biology. As an undergraduate researcher, he conducted research in behavioral and molecular neurobiology. He holds a M.Sc. in Biological Technology from the same University, with research focusing on metabolomic analysis of pre-pubertal children. He received his Ph.D. from Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, in Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, where he conducted computational but also "wet" lab research and discovered novel classes of small regulatory RNAs and shed light on their contribution in breast cancer disparities. His post-doctoral training focused on the epigenome and how DNA methylation affects gene expression in the context of leukemia. Dr Telonis joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as faculty in 2024 where he runs his own research lab. -
Education & Training
Education
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Research Interests
Our overarching hypothesis is that the dynamics among the epigenome, small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) and metabolism are at a homeostatic equilibrium in normal physiology but are mis-aligned in disease and cancer. Our work focuses on the impact of our environment in health and disease. From the perspective that health is not merely the absence of a manifested disease, we focus on dissecting how an adverse environment can (gradually or acutely) deregulate homeostasis and predispose individuals to certain types of diseases, including cancer.
At the molecular level, we study gene expression regulation by the epigenome, by metabolism and by small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs). Our work focuses on how DNA methylation integrates with additional epigenetic and transcription factors to regulate the expression of both proximal and distal genes and how specific genomic elements, like retrotransposons, can serve as bookmarks on the genome driving long-range genomic interactions. Furthermore, we study how sncRNAs can synergize or antagonize with epigenetic factors in regulating the expression of genes of specific architecture and also contribute in post-transcriptional regulation. Our research would not be complete without metabolic data: metabolism and metabolic needs and fluxes are the at the forefront of molecular physiology and our efforts aim to uncover how the metabolic physiology is integrated with sncRNAs and the epigenome.
We integrate these layers of molecular biology from a systems and network biology standpoint, using a series of computational and bioinformatic tools, statistical algorithms and machine learning (artificial intelligence, AI) on omic biological data. -
Publications
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Articles & News
Disclaimer:
Information presented in this section has been consolidated using AI and machine learning technologies. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, errors may occur. If you identify any inaccuracies, use this link to inform our data team. Your feedback is appreciated and helps us improve the quality of our content.