Cancer Genetics, Genomics & Systems Biology group

apostolos

Apostolos Zaravinos

Group Leader ​
Professor, Cancer Genetics
Dean, School of Sciences
Department of Life Sciences
European University Cyprus

Short Bio:

Dr. Apostolos Zaravinos is a Professor of Cancer Genetics and the leader of the “Cancer Genetics, Genomics & Systems Biology” group of the Basic and Translational Cancer Research Center (BTCRC). He is also the Dean of the School of Sciences at the European University Cyprus. He received his B.Sc. in Biology from the Department of Biology, University of Crete, and his Ph.D. in Medicine from the Medical School of the same University. He worked as a research scientist at the Harris Birthright Research Center for Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, and performed postdoctoral research in Cancer Genetics at the Molecular Medicine Research Center, University of Cyprus. He completed his postdoctoral training in Immunogenetics and Cancer Genetics at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute. In addition, he worked as an Associate Professor in Genetics in the Department of Basic Medical Science at the College of Medicine, Qatar University. Dr. Zaravinos holds two specializations: one in “Systems Biology” from the Systems Biology Center at Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, and another in “Genomic Data Science” from the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of the Editorial Board of BMC Cancer, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Frontiers in Oncology, and Frontiers in Pharmacology, among others. He has worked as a Guest Editor for several special issues in scientific journals and as an Associate Faculty Member of F1000Prime. Since 2020 he has been included each year in the list of the top 2% of the world’s most-cited and influential scientists, according to Stanford University. He is the recipient of the “Distinguished Researcher Award – 2022” from the European University Cyprus, the “1st Young Investigator Award – 2017” from the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, and the “Science Award – 2016” from the Youth Board of Cyprus. He is a member of the EACR, AACR, and FEBS and an elected member of the Society of Biological Sciences in Cyprus (SBSCy) board. He has published >140 papers in refereed journals and 7 book chapters (h-index, 44; i10-index, 97; >6800 citations; Google Scholar). His research work aims toward the advanced understanding of carcinogenesis through the investigation of interactions across genes, the discovery of therapeutic targets, and the examination of the immune landscape in inflamed tumors.

Research focus:

Our research group aims to advance the understanding of carcinogenesis through the integration of big data analytics, genomics, and systems biology. Our current focus centers on identifying novel therapeutic targets in cancer using next-generation sequencing technologies and exploring the mechanisms that regulate gene expression in tumor cells. We are particularly interested in dissecting the immune landscape of inflamed tumors to uncover how it shapes and reflects distinct aspects of tumor biology. A key area of our research involves investigating the interplay between complex genomic phenomena—such as kataegis and chromothripsis—and the activation of antitumor immune responses. In parallel, we seek to characterize the composition of tumor-infiltrating immune cell subsets, identify cancer neoantigens, and predict patient responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Ultimately, our goal is to generate translational insights that will guide more effective and personalized therapeutic strategies for cancer patients.

Current Group Members

Loiy Obeidat

Loiy Obeidat

PhD student
His main research interests include the investigation of LAG3 promoter methylation in cancer and primary immunodeficiencies, using NGS
Alexandros Koniotis

Alexandros Koniotis

PhD student
His main research interests include the construction of a pan-cancer pipeline for integrative single-cell and spatial transcriptomics.
Stephanie Agioti

Stephanie Agioti

PhD student
Her main interests include the investigation of intra-tumoral immune cytolytic activity and tumor microenvironmental aberrations in colorectal cancer
Sotiris Papadatos

Sotiris Papadatos

MSc student
His main interests include the comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of the expression signature, prognostic value, immune characteristics, and immunotherapeutic value of IL-17
Aggelos Kyriakoulis photo

Angelos Kyriakoulis

MSc student
His main interests include the exploration of a specialized programmed cell death pattern to predict prognosis and treatment sensitivity in skin melanoma by machine learning and multi-omics analysis
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Christos Notidis

MSc student
His main interests include the investigation of a specialized programmed cell death pattern to predict prognosis and treatment sensitivity in colorectal cancer by machine learning and multi-omics analysis
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Konstantinos Roidos

MSc student
His main interests include the exploration of a specialized base-excision repair pattern to predict prognosis and treatment sensitivity in colorectal cancer by machine learning and multi-omics analysis
Ibrahim Murtala Kankarofi

Murtala Ibrahim Kankarofi

MSc student
His main interests include the study of a specialized programmed cell death pattern to predict prognosis and treatment sensitivity in lung cancer by machine learning and multi-omics analysis
A bright, modern workspace featuring laptops, a camera, and a drawing tablet in an indoor office.

Vasiliki Efstathiou

MSc student
Her main interests include the study of a specialized base-excision repair pattern to predict prognosis and treatment sensitivity in colorectal cancer using machine learning and multi-omics analysis
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Ioanna Ioannou

MSc student
Her main interests include the study of promoter methylation of FGL1 and LAG3 genes in different cancer cell lines
Garifallia-Antigoni Karatasiou

Garyfallia Karatasiou

BSc student
Her main interests include the study of the role of tumor mutation burden and neoantigens in predicting response to immunotherapy
Angeliki Fourtouna

Angeliki Fourtouna

BSc student
Her main interests include the study of pharmacogenomics of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy
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Andria Ioannou

BSc student
Her main interest include multi-omics analysis using gene expression and mutation data in skin melanoma
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Markella Zacharia

BSc student
Her main interest is the investigation of the role of basement membrane-related genes in the migration and invasion of kidney cancer cell lines
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Elena Panayi

BSc student
Her main interest is the co-culture of T cells and colorectal cancer (CRC) cells to assess CRC cell viability and migration

Past Group Members

Kyriaki Psara

BSc (2022-2023)
BSc Thesis title: Drug resistance and overcome strategies of immunotherapy in skin melanoma

Amanda Andreou

BSc (2022-2023)
BSc Thesis title: Study of the effect of the tumor mutation burden (TMB) in immune response of melanoma patients

Paraskevi (Evita) Vryza

MD (2022-2023)
Thesis title: The role of tumor mutation burden (TMB) in cancer prognosis and response to immune-checkpoint inhibition therapy (this work was published in Translational Oncology)

Timo Fischer

MD (2022-2023)
Thesis title: The role of tumor mutation burden (TMB) in cancer prognosis and response to immune-checkpoint inhibition therapy The role of tumor mutation burden (TMB) in cancer prognosis and response to immune-checkpoint inhibition therapy

Andriani Chiraki

BSc (2022-2023)
BSc Thesis title: The role of tumor mutation burden (TMB) in prognosis of response to immunotherapy in cancer patients

Angeliki Chatziantoniou

BSc (2021-2022)
BSc Thesis title: Study of molecular signatures and transcriptional regulators of the common deregulated genes in lung cancer” (published in the Int J Mol Sci, DOI: 10.3390/ijms231810933)

Christiana Stylianou

BSc (2021-2022)
BSc Thesis title:The role of NK cells in the pathogenesis of skin melanoma and immunotherapy.

Ioanna Ladi

BSc (2021-2022)
BSc Thesis title: Inhibition of colorectal cancers using targeting therapies.

Rebecca Emily Hill

MSc (2020-2021)
MSc Thesis title: Identification of the deregulated microRNAs in paediatric medulloblastoma (co-supervised by Dr. Maria Braoudaki, University of Hertfordshire).

Ioanna Ioannou

BSc (2020-2021)
BSc Thesis title: Study of the molecular signatures and transcriptional regulators of the common deregulated genes in renal cancer.

Maria Paraskevopoulou

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: In vitro study of the effect of UV-processed donkey milk, in the release of nitric oxide and cytokines from healthy PBMCs. Current position: Studies “Cancer Biology, MSc” at the European University Cyprus.

Eleni Epaminonda

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: Current immunotherapeutic approaches against cancer.

Andria Zoppi & Zacharo Zacharia

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: Combination of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies in cancer treatment.

Anna Georgiou

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: RNA-editing in cancer. Current position: Studies “Cancer Biology, MSc” at the European University Cyprus and works at Pavlides Laboratory, Diagnostic Center, Limassol.

Georgios Georgoulias

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: Multi-omics analysis of immune-checkpoint genes in colorectal cancer. Current position: Studies “MSc in Applications of Biology in Medicine” at the Department of Biology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Anastasia Kalamata

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: In vitro study of the effect of UV-processed donkey milk, in cytokine release from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Current position: Studies “Application of Genetics in Precision Nutrition” at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Stavroulla Kalamata

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: In vitro study of the effect of UV-processed donkey milk, in the differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells. Current position: Studies “Application of Genetics in Precision Nutrition” at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Maria Kyprianou

BSc (2019-2020)
BSc Thesis title: Study on the effect of a vegetarian diet in the gut microbiome. Current position: Works at UNILAB Clinical Laboratory, Nicosia.

Milda Grigaliūnaitė

MSc (2019)
Research thesis project title: Genomic and transcriptomic data analysis using various computational tools. Current position: Studies Applied Mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania.

Kyriaki Georgiou

BSc (2018-2019)
BSc Thesis title: Detection of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer.

George Panagiotopoulos

BSc (2018-2019)
BSc Thesis title: Super-enhancers in cancer and other genetic diseases. Current position: Works at the diagnostic laboratory Iatriki Epivlepsi, Athens.

Georgia Georgiou

BSc (2018-2019)
BSc Thesis title: Next-generation sequencing technologies in cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Mara Kitsou

BSc (2018-2019)
BSc Thesis title: Correlation of the expression of immune checkpoints with the presence of tumor-infiltrated lymphocytes in cancer and with the survival of colorectal cancer patients. Current position: Studies “MSc in Research Methodology in Medicine and Health Sciences” at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Dr. Beatriz de Lucas Moreno

PhD (2017-2018)
PhD Thesis project: Study of the migration of mesenchymal precursors. Strategy for the improvement of their migratory properties (co-supervision with Prof. Beatriz González Gálvez, European University Madrid). Current position: Works at PRBB - Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona.

Anestis Makris

BSc (2017-2018)
BSc Thesis title: Cytolytic activity in colorectal cancer. Current position: Studied “Clinical Biochemistry - Molecular Diagnostics (MSc)” at the Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and currently pursues a PhD at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Natalia Mastrogamvraki

BSc (2017-2018)
BSc Thesis title: Co-deregulated genes and their transcriptional regulators in colorectal cancer. Current position: Studies MSc, Neoplastic Disease in Human at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Antonia Achilleos

BSc (2017-2018)
BSc Thesis title: The role of the gene circuitry NF-kB/Snail/YY1/RKIP/PTEN in the regulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer. Current position: Studies MSc in Molecular Medicine at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics.

Constantinos Roufas

MSc (2016-2018)
MSc Thesis title: Investigation of the immune cytolytic activity (CYT) across various tumor types - A TCGA-based approach. Current position: Works as Data Scientist - Business Intelligence officer in HotForex Cyprus.

George Kortas

MSc (2016-2017)
MSc Thesis title: Transcriptomic analysis of TCGA-extracted cancer data. Current position: Works as Associate of MEP Lefteris Christoforou.

Petros Makris

BSc (2016-2017)
BSc Thesis title: The role of miRNAs in EMT. Current position: Works at Vioiatriki Lemesou Ltd Clinical Laboratory.

Angeliki Foteinou

BSc (2016-2017)
BSc Thesis title: PD-L1 expression in colorectal cancer and its association with clinicopathological characteristics of the patients. Current position: Studies Medicine at the European University Cyprus.

Research Grants

Ongoing

HORIZON Call: DIGITAL-2022-TRAINING-02 (Digital Training). Topic: DIGITAL-2022-TRAINING-02-SHORT-COURSES. Type of Action: DIGITAL-SME (01/01/2023 – 30/12/2026). Title: “LEVEraging knowLedge of training providers in UPskilling and reskilling of SMEs’ managers and employees towards empowering their digital transformation (Level Up)”. Funding: 4.838,991.54 € (449,721.00 € to European University Cyprus)

Research & Innovation Foundation’s Program, (EXCELLENCE 0421/0179, 01/03/2021 – 28/02/2023), Role: Partner, Title: “Targeting the desmoplastic tumor microenvironment to improve the efficacy of pancreatic cancer immunotherapy”.

Completed

Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, (EXCELLENCE/1216/0417), Role: Partner, Title: “Genetic modifiers in Alport syndrome and thin basement membrane nephropathy”.

Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, (ENTERPRISES/0916/0083), Role: Partner, Title: “Donkey Milk Bioactive Powder”.

Research Promotion Foundation’s Program – Co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus, (POST-DOC/0916/0154). Role: Project Coordinator. Title: “Investigation of RNA editing in microRNA targeting in cancer” (gracefully turned down).

Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, (EXCELLENCE 1216/0036, 01/09/2018 – 31/08/2021), Role: Partner, Title: “Functional and therapeutic implications of histone N-terminal acetyltransferase Naa40 in colorectal oncogenesis”.

Karolinska Institutet’s 2014 Research Foundation Grant (Karolinska Institutets Forskningsstiftelser 2014). Project title: RNA sequencing of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (2014fobi41242).

Selected Publications

Full list of publications

Google Scholar
Scopus

Collaborators

  • Dr. Maria Braoudaki. Senior Lecturer in Molecular Genetics. University of Hertfordshire.
  • Dr. Dionysios Chartoumpekis. Research Assistant Professor in Pharmacology & Chemical Biology. School of Medicine, University of Patras.
  • Dr. Vassiliki Stamatopoulou. Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, University of Patras.
  • Dr. Stavroula Baritaki. Assistant Professor of Experimental Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Crete.
  • Dr. Krinio Giannikou. Instructor in Medicine. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
  • Dr. Ilias Georgakopoulos Soares. Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco.
  • Dr. Antonis Kirmizis. Associate Professor, University of Cyprus.
  • Dr. Demetrios A. Spandidos. Professor Emeritus at the School of Medicine, University of Crete.
  • Dr. Benjamin Bonavida. Distinguished Research Professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.
  • Dr. Constantinos Deltas. Professor of Genetics, University of Cyprus.
  • Dr. Dimitrios Delakas. Associate Professor, Director of the Department of Urology, Asklepieio General Hospital.
  • Dr. Massimo Libra. Professor of General Pathology at the School of Medicine, University of Catania.

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