Basic and Translational Research Unit (BTRU)

Initially the BTRU will comprise 12 research structures:

1. Genetics-Molecular Biology
2. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
3. Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
4. Pathological Anatomy
5. Toxicological Studies
6. Oncology
7. Immunology
8. Haematology
9. Cardiology
10. Nephrology
11. Neuroscience
12. Biomedical Engineering and Informatics

Main feature of the BTRU shall be the interdisciplinarity. The Unit’s research structures will enable collaboration between University faculty and researchers from the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacology, Veterinary Medicine, Biology as well as Schools of the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Sciences that share common special interests in basic and translational research. The Unit’s aim is to translate basic research findings into new approaches for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various diseases.

The BTRU scope of activities includes the supervision of postgraduate dissertations, PhD theses, post-doctoral research and other research or service provision projects.

Faculty members of the School of Medicine of AUTH or/and other collaborating Schools, if they wish, can submit their study to S.U.B.R.E. to be placed under its auspices. In this case they can use the affiliation of S.U.B.R.E. in their presentations or publications.

The affiliation of SUBRE for use in publications is:
Basic and Translational Research Unit, Special Unit for Biomedical Research and Education, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

To be placed under the auspices of S.U.B.R.E. and to indicate the affiliation of S.U.B.R.E. the studies are submitted to a Committee with members Prof. Asterios Karagiannis (Executive Director of SUBRE), Prof. Emmanuel Roilides and Prof. Georgios Germanidis (Head and Deputy Head of the Basic and Translation Research Unit, S.U.B.R.E.).

The criteria to be considered by the committee are the following:

1. The study is based on basic or translational research in the field of Biomedical Sciences without other restrictions
2. At least one author (preferably the first or the last) are active members of the Basic and Translation Research Unit of S.U.B.R.E.

Overview

The Facial Clefts and Craniofacial Differences* Referral Centre mission is twofold:

• Creation a formal register for these conditions.
• Provision of appropriate healthcare with measurable clinical outcomes of visible facial differences, i.e., congenital, syndromic, acquired, acute, progressive or chronic, in children and adults.

Aims

• Institute a national database.
• Educational transfer of knowledge, experience and expertise.
• Connection of primary, secondary and tertiary public and private healthcare providers with a single referral Center in order to achieve comprehensive and optimal management for patients.
• Expansion of focused research on facial differences.
• Development of a service-oriented healthcare infrastructure for patients with facial clefts and craniofacial differences.
• Design of further activities, national and international cooperation, information diffusion in the health sector and in society at large.

Application

Through two distinct programmes:

• Cleft lip and palate
• Craniofacial differences

Approach

• The Center (FCCDRC) will see all congenital or acquired conditions such as cleft lip and/or palate, craniosynostoses and any other craniofacial visible differences including neurofibromatosis type I, head and neck vascular malformations, hemifacial atrophy, craniofacial trauma, periorbital surgery conditions, etc.
• Its multidisciplinary team will treat visible differences that affect the face and the head both during development (of the bones and soft tissues) or the person’s appearance.

At the Facial Clefts and Craniofacial Differences Referral Center all children and adult patients will receive comprehensive specialized multidisciplinary care, optimal management of their condition – according to international standards of care, appropriate surgical treatment, follow-up, and personal and family psychosocial support for their full integration in their environment.

Innovation

The Center is the first national Facial Clefts and Craniofacial Differences Referral Center and a model Unit to be established in a public healthcare structure in Greece.

All members of the multidisciplinary team have demonstrated relevant clinical and research interests. They are also involved in scientific research and international collaborations for the better understanding and treatment of visible craniofacial differences.

Organizational structure

The Facial Clefts and Craniofacial Differences Referral Center will operate on a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental approach. The team is formed by medical specialists of various specialties and allied healthcare professionals with leadership from plastic surgeons with a special interest, appropriate training and experience in craniofacial surgery; they will evaluate and coordinate patients’ medical management in a consistent, specific, longitudinal and interdisciplinary care timeline.

Other team members include pediatricians, ENT specialists, maxillofacial surgeons, neurosurgeons, ophthalmic surgeons, orthodontists and others. The team is responsible for the integrated longitudinal management of the patients, observance and updating medical protocols, medical record-keeping and current medical imaging, organization of outpatient’s clinic appointments and investigations, and developing and support both research and training in the field of craniofacial differences.

The Facial Clefts and Craniofacial Differences Referral Center will operate within the framework of the Basic and Translational Research Unit (BTRU) which it belongs to the Special Unit for Biomedical Research and Education (SUBRE), School of Medicine, Aristotle University. It will be located at the Papageorgiou General Hospital of Thessaloniki, under the scientific authority and administrative responsibility of Aristotle University Plastic Surgery Department.

Administrative Governance: Efterpi Demiri, Professor in Plastic Surgery AUTH, Head Department of Plastic Surgery AUTH.

Scientific Responsibility: Pericles Foroglou, Associate Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery AUTH.

Lead: Pericles Foroglou, Associate Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery AUTH

Scientific Committee: The Center’s scientific committee is formed by medical doctors of the following medical specialties: Plastic Surgery – Craniofacial Surgery (Lead), Paediatrics, Ear, Nose and Throat and Neurosurgery.

Coordinator – Secretariat: Nursing Coordinator and secretary of the Center,

* The terms craniofacial visible difference or facial visible difference have replaced vocabularies of deformity, congenital malformation, dysplasia, abnormality, etc.

1. Mavridou D, Psatha K, Aivaliotis M. Proteomics and Drug Repurposing in CLL towards Precision Medicine. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13: 3391.
2. Arvanitakis K, Mitroulis I, Germanidis G. Tumor-Associated Neutrophils in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Pathogenesis, Prognosis, and Therapy. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13: 2899.
3. Malandris K, Kalopitas G, Theocharidou E, Germanidis G. The Role of RASs /RVs in the Current Management of HCV. Viruses 2021; 13: 2096.
4. Vikelouda K, Simitsopoulou M, Skoura L, Antachopoulos C, Roilides E. Activity of Amphotericin B Formulations and Voriconazole, Alone or in Combination, against Biofilms of Scedosporium and Fusarium spp. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2021; 65: e0063821.
5. Kyriakidis I, Vasileiou E, Rossig C, Roilides E, Groll AH, Tragiannidis A. Invasive Fungal Diseases in Children with Hematological Malignancies Treated with Therapies That Target Cell Surface Antigens: Monoclonal Antibodies, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and CAR T-Cell Therapies. J Fungi (Basel) 2021; 7: 186.
6. Arvanitakis K, Koletsa T, Mitroulis I, Germanidis G. Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Pathogenesis, Prognosis and Therapy. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14: 226.
7. Panagopoulou P, Roilides E. Evaluating posaconazole, its pharmacology, efficacy and safety for the prophylaxis and treatment of fungal infections. Expert Opin Pharmacother 2022; 23: 175-199.
8. Stella Arelaki, Triantafyllia Koletsa, Emmanuil Sinakos, Vasileios Papadopoulos, Konstantinos Arvanitakis, Panagiotis Skendros, Evangelos Akriviadis, Konstantinos Ritis, Georgios Germanidis, Prodromos Hytiroglou, Neutrophil extracellular traps enriched with IL-1β and IL-17A participate in the hepatic inflammatory process of patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-022-03330-7
9. Konstantinos Arvanitakis, Theocharis Koufakis, Kalliopi Kotsa, Georgios Germanidis The effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors on hepatocellular carcinoma: From molecular mechanisms to potential clinical implications YPHRS-D-22-00903R1
10. Georgia Emmanouilidou, Georgios Kalopitas, Dimitra Rafailia Bakaloudi, Evangelia Karanika, Eleni Theocharidou, Georgios Germanidis, Michail Chourdakis, Vitamin D as a chemopreventive agent in colorectal neoplasms. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
11. Panagiotis Skendros, Georgios Germanidis, Dimitrios C. Mastellos, Christina Antoniadou, Efstratios Gavriilidis, Georgios Kalopitas, Anna Samakidou, Angelos Liontos, Akrivi Chrysanthopoulou, Maria Ntinopoulou, Dionysios Kogias, Ioanna Karanika, Andreas Smyrlis, Dainora Cepaityte, Iliana Fotiadou, Nikoleta Zioga, Ioannis Mitroulis, Nikolaos K. Gatselis, Charalampos Papagoras, Simeon Metallidis, Haralampos Milionis, George N. Dalekos, Loek Willems, Barbro Persson, Vivek Anand Manivel, Bo Nilsson, E. Sander Connolly, Simona Iacobelli, Vasileios Papadopoulos, Rodrigo T. Calado, Markus Huber-Lang1, Antonio M. Risitano1, Despina Yancopoulou1, Konstantinos Ritis, John D. Lambris, Complement C3 inhibition in severe COVID-19 using compstatin AMY-101
12. Konstantinos Arvanitakis, Theocharis Koufakis, Kalliopi Kotsa, Georgios Germanidis, How Far beyond Diabetes Can the Benefits of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists Go? A Review of the Evidence on Their Effects on Hepatocellular Carcinoma
13. Konstantinos Arvanitakis, Ioannis Mitroulis, Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, Ioannis Elefsiniotis and Georgios Germanidis, The Liver Cancer Immune Microenvironment: Emerging Concepts for Myeloid Cell Profiling with Diagnostic and Therapeutic Implications