Verginis Panagiotis
January 7, 2026 2026-01-07 11:01Verginis Panagiotis
Verginis Panagiotis
Professor of Biochemistry
Medical School, University of Crete, P.C. 70013 Heraklion, Crete
Dr. Panayotis Verginis studied Chemistry at the University of Patras and obtained his Ph.D. at the Memorial University of New Foundland in Canada, in the field of Immunology. He continued his training at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Boston, USA as Immunologist. Upon his repatriation, he become an independent investigator at the Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, while in 2020 he elected Associate Professor on Immunology/Biochemistry at the Medical School, University of Crete. He is also affiliated with the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) and visiting Professor at the University Clinic Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, in Germany. Currently, he is a Professor of Biochemistry and Immunology at the Medical School, University of Crete and head of the Laboratory of Immune Regulation and Tolerance. The research interest of his team has generated publication as the senior and corresponding author in major peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary scientific journals (Nat. Immunol., Cell, Cell Metabol., J. Clin. Invest., Science Adv., Cell Reports etc). He has co-organized national and international conferences on the translational aspects of immunology and has established several collaborations with investigators worldwide.
• 1994-1998 BSc Chemistry, Chemistry Department, University of Patras, Greece
• 2000-2006 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Immunology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, NL, Canada.
• 2005-2008 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Immunology, Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
The research interests of my lab are focused on the study of immune regulation mechanisms that underlie autoimmune, inflammatory diseases and cancer. There are two main research directions in the lab. A) The Basic Science direction in which we utilize preclinical mouse models together with in vitro screening assays with the ultimate goal to identify druggable molecules to re-program the immunological defects in the aforementioned diseases. B) The Translational direction focuses on the generation of clinical sample biobanks (blood, tumor specimens, bone marrow samples, synovial fluid and skin biopsies), aiming to validate the findings obtained in the preclinical models.
Representative publications of the last five years. Full list of publications:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=verginis+p
1. Semitekolou M, Paschalidis N, Lo Tartaro D, Tsitsopoulou A, Stamou P, Mavroudis A, Markaki E, Varveri A, Morianos I, Lavigne M, Fotsitzoudis C, Magkouta S, Dede K, Kalomenidis I, Samitas K, Potaris K, Cossarizza A, Mavroudis D, De Biasi S, Verginis P. Blood immunomap for prediction of responses to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. iScience. 2025 Jun 2;28(9):112804. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112804. eCollection 2025 Sep 19.
2. Varveri A., Papadopoulou M., Papadovasilakis Z., Compeer EB, Legaki AI., Delis A., Damaskou A., Boon L., Papadogiorgaki S., Samiotaki M., Foukas P., Hatzioannou A., Alissafi T., Dustin ML., Verginis P. An Immunological Synapse Formation Between T Regulatory Cells and Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Promotes Tumor Development Nat Commun 2024 15(1):4988. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49282-1.
3. Boumpas A., Papaioannou A., Bousounis P., Grigoriou M., Bergo V., Papafragkos I., Tasis A., Iskas M., Boon L., Makridakis M., Vlachou A., Gavriilaki E., Hatzioannou A., Mitroulis I., Trompouki E., Verginis P. PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy rewires cancer emergency myelopoiesis Front Immunol. 2024 Oct 11;15:1386838. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1386838. eCollection 2024.
4. Papadaki G, Goutakoli P, Tiniakou I, Grün JR, Grützkau A, Pavlopoulos GA, Iliopoulos I, Bertsias G, Boumpas D, Ospelt C, Reizis B, Sidiropoulos P, Verginis P. (2022) IL-6 signaling Attenuates TNF-α Production by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis. J Immunol. Nov 15;209(10):1906-1917.
5. Manolakou, T., Nikolopoulos, D., Gkikas, D., Filia. A., Samiotaki, M., Stamatakis, G., Fanouriakis, A., Politis, P., Banos, A., Alissafi, T., Verginis, P*., Boumpas, D.T*. (2022). ATR-mediated DNA damage responses underlie aberrant B cell activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. Science Advances, 8, eabo5840. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo5840
European Society of Immunology
Hellenic Society of Immunology
Hellenic Society of Flow Cytometry
