Constantinos Deltas

 

 

Prof. Deltas has a broad spectrum of interests in the fields of molecular and medical genetics with emphasis in the inherited diseases of the kidney, pursuing among others, to benefit the Cypriot patient. With the use of contemporary methodologies of molecular biology and genetics, he aims at investigating and deciphering the mysteries of inherited disorders with emphasis in subjects such as:

1. Molecular epidemiological study of the Cypriot population aiming at constructing and maintaining the Genetic Map of Cyprus. His team has contributed significantly to the identification and investigation of many inherited diseases among Greek-Cypriots, some of which present higher prevalence in specific geographical regions or communities (Founder Phenomena (Deltas C, In Annals of the Cyprus Research Center (Epetirida): Vol. 30: pp 457-489, 2004).

2.
A. Research in the genetics of inherited kidney disorders with a focus on Cystic Diseases of the Kidney and investigation of the molecular pathogenetic mechanisms using cell biology and tissue culture techniques. Diseases that interest him are: Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease and Medullary Cystic Kidney Disease (Bouba et al, Eur J Hum Genet 9:677-684, 2001, Koptides & Deltas, Hum Genet 107:115-126, 2000, Felekkis et al, BMC Nephrology 9 (1):10, 2008, Deltas and Papagregoriou, Arch Pathol & Lab Med 134:569-582, 2010).

B. Research in the genetics of Familial Microscopic Hematuria. Microscopic Hematuria is a frequent finding in the general population while in many cases it has a hereditary cause as a monogenic heritable condition. In collaboration with many colleagues in Cyprus and abroad, Prof. Deltas have studied and described tens of families and hundreds of patients with Thin Basement Membrane Disease and mutations in collagen IV genes of the glomerular basement membrane or with a newly described nephropathy caused by deregulation of the Complement which is part of the innate immune system (C3 Glomerulonephritis). Recent findings in collaboration with scientists abroad and headed by a London based group who made the original observation, they identified for the first time a mutation in the CFHR5 gene that regulates the Alternative Pathaway of Complement. This disease is endemic in Cyprus and mainly in villages on the Troodos mountains in Marathasa as well as elsewhere near Nicosia (Voskarides et al, J Am Soc Nephrol 18:3004-3016, 2007, Pierides et al, Nephrol Dial Transplant 24:2721-2729, 2009, Gale et al, Lancet 2010, In press).

3. The laboratory maintains collaborations with researchers and laboratories in Cyprus, Greece, Europe and the United States, that have led to the mapping and cloning of new genes and in the investigation of pathological mechanisms at molecular and cellular level (Two-hit hypothesis in Polycystic Kidney Disease). His research led to the clarification of genetic phenomena concerning the Greek-Cypriot population and to the implementation of prevention programs and programs for family planning for various inherited diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Familial Mediterranean Fever, Thrombophilia, Hereditary Cancer of the Thyroid (MEN2A syndrome), Polycystic Kidney Disease and other nephropathies.

4. Through a competitive research proposals call coordinated by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, Prof. Deltas headed a team of collaborators in Cyprus and abroad and were awarded a large Infrastructure Strategic Grant which is co-funded through the Structural Funds of the European Union. The funding and implementation of this program is pending. Among others, the program has as a central goal the creation of the first National Biobank where there will be collected and archived biological material and medical records of thousands of Greek-Cypriots, patients and healthy subjects. The present and future aims are to foster and develop additional research programs on monogenic diseases as well as multifactorial conditions with a genetic component.

Professor Deltas has been selected as “Eminent Scientist of the Year 2008”, which is the International Award of the International Research Promotion Council, in the field of “Nephrology and Human Genetics” based on his innovative research ideas, academic excellence and research initiatives in molecular diagnostics, rare kidney diseases and Nephrogenetics.