Dimitrios Tsiantoulas, PhD
Group leader
Asst. Prof.
Medical University of Vienna
Department of Laboratory Medicine, KILM
Anna Spiegel Research Building
Lazarettgasse 14, AKH BT25.2, Level6
1090 Vienna, Austria
Dimitrios Tsiantoulas studied molecular biology and genetics at the Democritus University of Thrace (Greece) and obtained his PhD degree from the Medical University of Vienna (Austria) in 2015, studying the impact of the immune system in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. He continued his training in immunity and atherosclerosis as a postdoctoral fellow, funded by the British Heart Foundation, in Prof. Ziad Mallat’s lab at the University of Cambridge. In 2019, he joined the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna as a Group leader.
Know-how and research interests
Heart attacks are the main cause of death worldwide. The main underlying pathology of this devastating condition is atherosclerosis, a lipid-driven chronic inflammatory disease that leads to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in large and medium size arteries. Plaque rupture or erosion triggers thrombus formation, which restricts blood flow in the artery, thereby limiting oxygen supply to the heart muscle and consequently causing myocardial cell necrosis. Dimitrios Tsiantoulas leads a research group that studies the role of the immune system in cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, and lipid metabolism.
Main Research Interests
- Dissect the effect of B cell immunity in atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction
- Investigate the function of APRIL (A Proliferation Inducing Ligand) in cardiovascular disease
- Identify immunomodulatory therapies for cardiovascular diseases
