Interview: Dr. Eleftherios P. Diamandis (Canada)

Interview about Cancer Biomarkers.

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Dr. Eleftherios P. Diamandis is Section Head of Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Mount Sinai Hospital, Professor and Head, Division of Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto and Biochemist-in-Chief, Laboratory Medicine Program, University Health Network, Toronto Ontario.

Research in Dr. Diamandis’ lab focuses on four major areas:

  • Discovery and validation of novel biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of cancer and other diseases. Dr. Diamandis is using proteomics and mass spectrometry techniques to achieve these goals
  • Study of the physiology and pathobiology of kallikreins and kallikrein-related peptidases. Kallikreins are a group of 15 serine proteases which participate in many biological processes, including cell signaling, tissue remodeling, wound healing, skin desquamation, cognition, etc. In cancer, kallikreins participate in invasion and metastasis. The Diamandis laboratory was the first to clone the genes for several members of this family and has constructed the first map of all 15 genes on chromosome 19q.13.4.
  • Examination of the therapeutic potential of cardiac glycosides. Recently, the Diamandis laboratory identified anticarcinogenic activities of cardial glycosides and especially, their synergistic effects with other drugs. This work is mainly carried out by high-throughput screening of large chemical libraries.
  • The Diamandis laboratory is investigating novel ways for prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome and other fetal abnormalities by using proteomics and mass spectrometry. Recently, our laboratory was the first to delineate the proteome of human amniotic fluid.

Dr. Diamandis is a member of many International and Professional Associations including the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, etc. He is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada and corresponding member of the Academy of Athens, Greece. He is, or was, on the Editorial Board of 30 Journals including Clinical Chemistry, Cancer Research, British Journal of Cancer, International Journal of Cancer and BMC Medicine. He won many awards from National and International Organizations.