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Vassilis Roukos

Medical School, University of Patras, Greece & Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz, Germany

Vassilis Roukos Assistant Professor / Group Leader

Dr. Vassilis Roukos is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the Department of Medicine, University of Patras. He is a graduate of the Department of Biology of the University of Patras, holds a Master’s degree and a PhD in Molecular Biology and Cytogenetics from the Department of Medicine of the University of Patras.
From 2008 to 2015, he has served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA and from 2015 to 2022 as a principal investigator of a research team at the Institute of Molecular Biology , Mainz, Germany.
His laboratory has participated in large research initiatives attracting high external funding. He has more than 35 publications in high impact journals such as Nature, Science, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Cell Biology, Mol Cell, Nature Rev Mol Cell Biol, Nature Prot, Nature Com, Science Adv. etc. and has filed applications for European and International patents.
He has served as an external reviewer for many prestigious journals and granting bodies, co-organized international conferences (e.g. EMBO) and has been invited to highlight published studies to a wider scientific audience for journals such as Nature, Nature Rev Mol Cell Biol and EMBO J. His research focuses on the study of cellular mechanisms that maintain genomic stability, human 3D genome organization and genome editing (CRISPR/Cas9). His laboratory uses, among others, next-generation, high-throughput imaging and sequencing methodologies.

Positions held

  • Since 2022: 
    Assistant Professor, Medical School, University of Patras, Greece
    Affiliated Group Leader, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz
  • 2015 – 2022:
    Group Leader, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz
  • 2013 – 2014:
    NIH Research Fellow, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda
  • 2008 – 2013:
    Postdoctoral Researcher, NIH, Bethesda

Education

  • 2005 – 2008:
    PhD in Molecular Biology and Cytogenetics, Medical School, University of Patras
  • 2002 – 2005:
    MSc in Applications in Medical Sciences, Medical School, University of Patras
  • 1998 – 2002:
    BSc in Biology, University of Patras

Selected Presentations

  • Invited presentation at the kick-off meeting MILESTONE (University of Patras, Greece)
  • Invited presentation at the Μaster and PhD student meeting at the Biology Department, University of Patras
  • EMBO workshop, “DNA topology in genomic transactions”, 2021 (virtual)
  • EMBO workshop “Chromatin dynamics and nuclear organization in genome maintenance”, December 7-11, 2020
  • SPP 2202 kick-off meeting;  “The role of chromosome genome organization in chromosome fragility and the formation of leukemia driving translocations”; June 2019; Berlin, Germany
  • Invited seminar, Karolinska Institutet; “Breaking Bad: how breaks in folded, active DNA promote oncogenic translocations in response to cancer therapy”; December 2019, Stockholm, Sweden
  • EMBO workshop, “DNA topology and Topoisomerases in Genome Dynamics”, 2019, Les Diablerets, Switzerland
  • EMBO workshop, “The Genome in Three Dimensions”, 2019, Kyllini, Greece
  • Workshop: “DNA repair, Cancer and Regeneration”, 2018, Bologna, Italy
  • ΕΜΒΟ workshop, “RNA and Genome Maintenance: Cooperation and Conflict Management”, 2018, Mainz, Germany,
  • ΕΜΒΟ meeting, “Chromatin dynamics and nuclear organization of the genome”, 2018, Strasbourg, France,
  • Meeting of the “German Society for Research in DNA Repair”, 2016, Essen, Germany
  • Research Training Group, University Klinikum; “Insights into biogenesis of chromosome translocations”; 2016, Essen, Germany
  • EMBO meeting in “Nuclear function and cell fate choice”, 2016, Kyllini, Greece
  • School of Cancer Sciences; “The biogenesis of chromosome translocations”; 2015, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Chromothripsis, Clustered Mutation and Complex Chromosome Rearrangements, Spatial dynamics of chromosome translocations in living cells; 2014, Cambridge, MA, USA
  • 20th International Chromosome Conference, “Biogenesis of chromosome translocations” 2014, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
  • Max F. Perutz Laboratories,  Spatial dynamics of chromosome translocations in living cells;2014, Vienna, Austria
  • Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Spatial dynamics of chromosome translocations in living cells;2014, Chicago, USA
  • MRC Clinical Sciences Center, Dynamics of chromosome translocations in living cells;2014, London, UK
  • Laboratory of Genome Integrity, NCI, NIH, Spatial dynamics of chromosome translocations in living cells; 2013, Bethesda, USA
  • Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, “Dynamic Organization of Nuclear Function”, 2012, New York, USA

PhD Theses Advisor

Xanthopoulos Athanasios (Medical School, UPatras, 2024-…)

Gabriel Mello da Cunha Longo (IPP, IMB-JGU, Mainz, Germany, 2024)

Vera Minneker (IPP, IMB-JGU, Mainz, Germany, 2021)

Rossana Piccinno (IPP, IMB-JGU, Mainz, Germany, 2021)

Henrike Gothe (IPP, IMB-JGU, Mainz, Germany, 2020)

Marta Patrycja Cipińska (IPP, IMB-JGU, Mainz, Germany, 2020)

Other Activities

  • Ad hoc reviewer for grant applications: ERC, German Research Foundation (DFG), Wellcome Trust, US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, French National Research Agency (ANR), Univesrity of Cyprus , HFRI etc.
  • Reviewer for journals: Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Molecular Cell, Science Advances, Journal of Cell Biology, EMBO J, Nucleic Acids Research, Journal of Molecular Biology, Epigenetics, Current Opinion in Cell Biology etc
  • Invitations to highlight published studies for journals such as Nature, Nature Cell Biology and EMBO J
  • Patent Applications:  https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2024033378A1/en
  • Coorganizer of the meeting  (2021) EMBO “DNA Topology in genomic transactions”.
  • Coorganizer of the meeting  IMB “Chromosome Territories and Nuclear Architecture”, Mainz, Germany
  • Fellows Award for Research Excellence, NIH
  • NIH Special Service Group Award for the technology  HiTIFF
  • Postodoctoral Fellowship award, NCI, NIH, Bethesda
  • EMBO short term fellowship 
  • FEBS short term fellowship 
  • Fellowhip from the National Fellowhip Agency of Greece (ΙΚΥ)