PERSONAL DETAILS
First name : Michael
Last name : Voulgarelis
Home Address : Artemidos 35, P Faliro, Athens, Greece
Telephone (Home) : +30-210-9824048
Business Address : Department of Pathophysiology, Medical School,
National University of Athens, 75 M. Asias St, Goudi,
11527, Athens, Greece.
Telephone (Lab) : +30-210-7462648
Fax : +30-210-7462664
E-mail : mvoulgar@med.uoa,gr
Date of birth : July 6, 1960
EDUCATION
1978-1984: MD
– University of Patras, School of Medicine, Greece.
1988-1990: Resident in Internal Medicine, University of Ioannina, Medical School,
Greece.
Director: Prof. H.M. Moutsopoulos, MD.
1990-1994: Fellowship in Hematology, 1 st
Department of Propedeutic Medicine,
National University of Athens, Medical School, Greece. Director: Prof. N.
Katsilambros, MD.
13/1/1998: Ph.D. in Hematology – National University of Athens, School of
Medicine, Greece.
KEY QUALIFICATION – PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2000-2005: Lecturer in Hematology, Department of Pathophysiology, University of
Athens, School of Medicine, Greece. Director: Prof. H.M. Moutsopoulos, MD.
2005-2010: Assistant Professor in Hematology, Department of Pathophysiology,
University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece. Director: Prof. H.M.
Moutsopoulos, MD.
2010-present: Associate Professor in Hematology, Department of Pathophysiology,
University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece. Director: Prof. A.G.Tzioufas,
MD.
During my fellowship in Hematology I was involved in European multicenter randomized clinical trial in order to evaluate the efficacy of ciprofloxacin versus amikacin plus ceftazidime as an empirical treatment of neutropenic infections in patients with hematologic malignancies (Antimicrob Agents Chemother.
2000;44:3264-71).
In 1999 the European Concern Action for Sjogren’s syndrome presented a retrospective analysis of NHL in Sjogren’s syndrome (BIOMED, BMH4-CT96-0595 from the European Community). In this project I was the investigator which conducted, organized and analyzed all the data. This project finally led to a publication in Arthritis & Rheumatism (Malignant lymphoma in primary Sjogren's syndrome: a multicenter, retrospective, clinical study by the European Concerted
Action on Sjogren's Syndrome. Arthritis Rheum. 1999;42:1765-72).
In 2000 the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Development supported me with research funding (PENED-01ED263) to investigate the pathogenesis of autoimmune manifestations in myelodysplastic syndrome (Autoimmune
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manifestations in human myelodysplasia: a positive correlation with interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) expression. Ann Rheum Dis. 2004;63:578-82).
ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
I am Director of the Hematology Division of the Pathophysiology Department,
National University of Athens. Since beginning my position as a Lecturer on
February, 2000, I have been actively involved in the study of pathogenesis of myelodysplastic patients. Our program focuses heavily upon the implication of IRF-1 in the pathogenesis of myelodysplasia and more specifically the involvement of this transcription factor in the development of autoimmune manifestations in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. My second area of interest is the lymphoma development in Sjogren’s syndrome. Our increasing understanding of the biology of lymphoma in these patients, is contributing to the better patients’ therapeutic approach. Finally,
I am member of American Society of Hematology and reviewer in several scientific journals ( Ann Rheum Dis, Arthritis Rheum, Lupus, Leuk Res, J Rheumatol, Eur J Clin
Invest, Clin Rheumatol, Clin Exp Rheumatol).
Division faculty is active in all levels of medical education. The Division faculty is active in medical student teaching providing clinical mentoring while serving as attending physicians on the Department of Pathophysiology, while at the same time providing clinical mentorship to two fellows in hematology in the clinic and laboratory. In postgraduate education, the Division provides opportunities for training in the medical subspecialties of hematology with an emphasis on preparing trainees for careers in academic medicine. During the last 7 years 3 physicians and one biologist received their PhD in hematology division. Maratheftis CI (topic: IRF-1 and
Toll-like receptor-4 in myelodysplastic syndrome), Giannouli S (topic: autoimmune manifestations in myelodysplasia), Kokori SI (topic: pathophysiology of anemia in
SLE patients), Ziakas PD (topic: thrombocytopenia in lupus). Among the peerreviewed reports published by division faculty in the last years, there were multiple contributions to high impact specialty journals: Clin Cancer Res, Arch Intern Med,
Ann Rheum Dis, Rheumatology (Oxford), Leuk Res, Arthritis Rheum.
TWENTY PUBLICATIONS
1: Maratheftis CI, Andreakos E, Moutsopoulos HM, Voulgarelis M . Toll-like receptor-4 is up-regulated in hematopoietic progenitor cells and contributes to increased apoptosis in myelodysplastic syndromes. Clin Cancer Res. 2007;13:1154-
60.
2: Boula A, Voulgarelis M , Giannouli S, Katrinakis G, Psyllaki M, Pontikoglou C,
Markidou F, Eliopoulos GD, Papadaki HA. Effect of cA2 anti-tumor necrosis factoralpha antibody therapy on hematopoiesis of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.
Clin Cancer Res. 2006;12:3099-108.
3: Maratheftis CI, Bolaraki PE, Giannouli S, Kapsogeorgou EK, Moutsopoulos HM,
Voulgarelis M . Aberrant alternative splicing of interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) in myelodysplastic hematopoietic progenitor cells. Leuk Res. 2006;30:1177-86.
4: Zintzaras E, Voulgarelis M , Moutsopoulos HM. The risk of lymphoma development in autoimmune diseases: a meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med.
2005;165:2337-44.
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5: Giannouli S, Tzoanopoulos D, Ritis K, Kartalis G, Moutsopoulos HM, Voulgarelis
M . Autoimmune manifestations in human myelodysplasia: a positive correlation with interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) expression. Ann Rheum Dis. 2004;63:578-82.
6: Voulgarelis M , Ziakas PD, Papageorgiou A, Baimpa E, Tzioufas AG,
Moutsopoulos HM. Prognosis and outcome of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in primary
Sjögren syndrome . Medicine (Baltimore). 2012 Jan;91(1):1-9.
7: Voulgarelis M, Tzioufas AG. Pathogenetic mechanisms in the initiation and perpetuation of Sjögren's syndrome.
Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2010 Sep;6(9):529-37.
8: Baimpa E, Dahabreh IJ, Voulgarelis M, Moutsopoulos HM. Hematologic manifestations and predictors of lymphoma development in primary Sjögren syndrome: clinical and pathophysiologic aspects. Medicine (Baltimore). 2009
Sep;88(5):284-93.
9: Voulgarelis M, Tzioufas AG, Moutsopoulos HM. Mortality in Sjögren's syndrome.
Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2008 Sep-Oct;26(5 Suppl 51):S66-71.
10: Maratheftis CI, Giannouli S, Spachidou MP, Panayotou G, Voulgarelis M.
RNA interference of interferon regulatory factor-1 gene expression in THP-1 cell line leads to Toll-like receptor-4 overexpression/activation as well as up-modulation of annexin-II. Neoplasia. 2007 Dec;9(12):1012-20.
11: Dahabreh IJ, Giannouli S, Zoi C, Zoi K, Voulgarelis M, Moutsopoulos HM.
Management of hypereosinophilic syndrome: a prospective study in the era of molecular genetics. Medicine (Baltimore). 2007 Nov;86(6):344-54.
12: Voulgarelis M, Tzioufas AG. Pathogenetic mechanisms in the initiation and perpetuation of Sjögren's syndrome. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2010 Sep;6(9):529-37.
13: Voulgarelis M, Skopouli FN. Clinical, immunologic, and molecular factors predicting lymphoma development in Sjogren's syndrome patients. Clin Rev Allergy
Immunol. 2007 Jun;32(3):265-74.
14: Voulgarelis M, Giannouli S, Tzioufas AG, Moutsopoulos HM. Long term remission of Sjögren's syndrome associated aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas following combined B cell depletion therapy and CHOP
(cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone). Ann Rheum Dis. 2006
Aug;65(8):1033-7.
15: Voulgarelis M, Giannouli S, Anagnostou D, Tzioufas AG. Combined therapy with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone (CHOP) for Sjögren's syndrome-associated B-cell aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
Rheumatology (Oxford). 2004 Aug;43(8):1050-3.
16: Voulgarelis M, Moutsopoulos HM. Lymphoproliferation in autoimmunity and
Sjögren's syndrome.
Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2003 Aug;5(4):317-23.
17: Voulgarelis M, Petroutsos G, Moutsopoulos HM, Skopouli FN. 2-chloro-2'deoxyadenosine in the treatment of Sjögren's syndrome-associated B cell lymphoproliferation. Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Aug;46(8):2248-9.
18: Voulgarelis M, Dafni UG, Isenberg DA, Moutsopoulos HM. Malignant lymphoma in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a multicenter, retrospective, clinical study by the European Concerted Action on Sjögren's Syndrome. Arthritis Rheum. 1999
Aug;42(8):1765-72.
19: Voulgarelis M, Giannouli S, Tasidou A, Anagnostou D, Ziakas PD, Tzioufas AG.
Bone marrow histological findings in systemic lupus erythematosus with hematologic abnormalities: a clinicopathological study. Am J Hematol. 2006 Aug;81(8):590-7.
20: Ziakas PD, Dafni UG, Giannouli S, Tzioufas AG, Voulgarelis M.
Thrombocytopaenia in lupus as a marker of adverse outcome--seeking Ariadne's thread. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2006 Oct;45(10):1261-5.
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