Roles
Assistant Professor
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Biography
I joined the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami as an Assistant Professor in January 2020. My interest in Immunology started early during my undergraduate studies in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. I joined the Department of Immunopharmacology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, as an exchange student and completed a 9-month undergraduate research project on the role of low molecular weight chemicals in stimulating macrophages during asthma.
During my graduate studies at Kiel University, Germany, I studied the cross-talk between T cells and mast cells in allergic immune responses and discovered a previously unappreciated role for mast cells as antigen presenting cells in the periphery. To gain further expertise in Immunology and specifically T cell differentiation and responses to viral infections and cancer, I performed my postdoctoral training in the USA. My interest in non-coding RNAs and how they regulate T cell responses was ignited during my postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. Katsikis at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. During this time, we demonstrated that miR-155 is a key regulator of CD8 T cell responses and modulates the effector versus memory CD8 T cell differentiation. We then expanded these studies at the University of Pennsylvania, in the lab of Dr. E. John Wherry, where we focused on the role of miR-155 in T cell differentiation during chronic viral infections and cancer and demonstrated that miR-155 can direct exhausted CD8 T cell differentiation.
As a Research Investigator at the University of Pennsylvania, I investigated the microRNA profile of T cells differentiating during acute and chronic viral infection and discovered individual microRNAs implicated in regulating optimal versus dysfunctional CD8 T cell responses. Indeed, we demonstrated that miR-29a regulates functional memory CD8 T cell responses and can improve CD8 T cell responses to chronic infection and cancer. Our independent research program at the University of Miami is based on the notion that microRNAs can instruct T cell fate differentiation and therefore we are currently exploring the use of microRNAs as a therapeutic intervention to improve T cell responses during immunotherapy. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
My excitement for teaching and mentoring was ignited when I started teaching Greek language to children attending the Greek School of St. George Cathedral in Philadelphia. It was then when I realized that mentoring is a much more complex activity than the simple transmission of knowledge, ideas or experience from the teacher to the student; the proof for this being the continuous need for mentoring and teaching, centuries after the printing of books has made knowledge widely available and decades after modern technologies have allowed instant access to any kind of information. The value of mentoring that makes the presence of a mentor more effective than privately retrieving information from books or listening to recorded seminars, lies in the personal relationship between student and mentor, as well as the interaction between students themselves. For this reason, my teaching philosophy relies on continuous mentor-student interaction, projects and assignments that encourage student interactions with their peers and participation in research lab.
As a senior research investigator at the University of Pennsylvania, I organized a summer school in Immunology for high school students. The lectures were focused on basic immunological concepts and approach to science and the lab assignments included basic cellular and molecular techniques. This has been one of the most rewarding experience in my professional life, as most of these students expressed interest to continue their education in biomedical sciences.
Our research program at the University of Miami is focused on understanding basic molecular and epigenetic mechanisms of T cell immunology, developing novel strategies to deliver small RNA molecules to immune cells and investigating novel methods to improve current immunotherapy. The clinical potential of such studies, makes it an ideal example to use for promoting immunology education. Indeed, students of all levels (undergraduate students, graduate students, MD/PhD students and medical fellows) are especially interested in such studies, as they combine basic understanding of immunological mechanisms with immediate clinical translational impact. -
Research Interests
Our research program is focused on delineating the role of non-coding RNAs in T cell differentiation. Our vision is to uncover the role of non-coding RNAs in regulating T cell responses to infection and cancer and develop novel immunotherapy strategies using non-coding RNAs. Since my early postdoctoral studies, I have been intrigued by the role of microRNAs in the immune system. MicroRNAs have the potential to target hundreds of mRNAs simultaneously; therefore, affect key cellular, molecular and epigenetic pathways and regulate immune responses. However, the role of microRNAs in regulating T cell differentiation and tuning responses to immunotherapy is understudied.
CD8 T cell responses are the hallmark of immune responses to viral infections and cancer. Transcriptional and epigenetic pathways regulate CD8 T cell responses, however the role of non-coding RNAs has not been elucidated. Using microRNA profiling in CD8 T cells, we predicted that three microRNAs, miR-150, miR-155, and miR-29 may regulate CD8 T cell responses to viral infections and cancer. Indeed, we first demonstrated that miR-155 is a crucial regulator of effector CD8 T cell responses, while miR-150 regulates memory CD8 T cells by targeting c-Myb. We further extended these studies in microRNAs regulating CD8 T cell exhaustion and responses to chronic infection and cancer. Thus, we identified a key role for miR-155 to sustain the persistence of exhausted cells, by fostering the durability of terminally exhausted cells. Recently, we identified miR-29a as a memory-promoting microRNA that enhances CD8 T cell responses to chronic infection and cancer and improves the phenotype and function of exhausted cells. Collectively, these studies suggest that microRNAs are key players in antiviral and anti-tumor CD8 T cell responses and that modulating the expression of miR-29a has the potential to improve immunotherapy.
Our ongoing and future studies are focused on uncovering the molecular, transcriptional, and epigenetic circuits governed by microRNAs that instruct T cell differentiation and exploring novel strategies to deliver microRNAs in order to improve responses to immunotherapy. -
Publications
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