Scientific Personnel

Brief Bio

Dr. Stefanis obtained his MD from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) Medical School in 1987 and his PhD from the same University in 1992, with work related to the molecular basis of thalassemia.  In 1991, he moved to the US, where he trained as Resident in Neurology at Columbia University in New York.  In 1995, he embarked on a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Lloyd Greene, in the Dept. of Pathology, while in parallel he completed a two-year fellowship on Neurobehaviour, in the Dept. of Neurology at Columbia University.  His work during this time centered on mechanisms of neuronal cell death. In 1998 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in the Dept. of Neurology at Columbia University, position which he held up till 2003.  During this time, he focused on the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, with an emphasis on Parkinson’s Disease (PD). In 2003 he moved back to Greece as Researcher Level B at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA), and set up a laboratory focusing on mechanisms of neurodegeneration, in particular in relation to protein degradation systems, alpha-synuclein and PD.  In 2006 he was appointed Associate Professor in the NKUA Medical School, while he continued his work at BRFAA as affiliated investigator.  In 2011 he was appointed Director of the Second Department of Neurology at Attikon Hospital and in 2012 he was elected to the position of Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology at the NKUA. In 2017, he moved as Director to the First Department of Neurology at Eginitio Hospital.  Currently, he is investigating various areas of PD pathogenesis, ranging from the bench to the bedside.  He is examining the genetic underpinnings of the disease in the Greek population. A special focus is rare cases with genetic synucleinopathies, carriers of the p.A30G or p.A53T SNCA mutations, as well as patients with GBA1 or PRKN mutations. He is examining the utility of using alpha-synuclein, elements of the Autophagy Lysosome Pathway (ALP), or measurements of PRKN expression as disease biomarkers.  He is examining pathways of neurotoxicity and aggregation induced by aberrant alpha-synuclein, with an emphasis on the involvement of protein degradation pathways, such as Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy.  Conversely, he applies experimental therapeutics aiming to boost such intrinsic pathways, in order to confer neuroprotection in synucleinopathies. He is using a wide array of approaches, ranging from cellular and animal models to studies of patients’ biological material.

Selected Publications

Pub Med: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=stefanis+l&sort=date

 

Most significant recent publications (2021-2025):

Aggregated α-synuclein in erythrocytes as a potential biomarker for idiopathic Parkinson's Disease. Dimoula K, Papagiannakis N, Maniati M, Stefanis L, Emmanouilidou E. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2025 Feb 6;133:107321. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2025.107321. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39938327 Free article.

The novel p.A30G SNCA pathogenic variant in Greek patients with familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease. Alefanti I, Koros C, Tsami V, ..Karadima G, Stefanis L. Eur J Neurol. 2025 Feb;32(2):e16562. doi:10.1111/ene.16562. PMID: 39878395 Free PMC article.

α-Synuclein in Parkinson's Disease: 12 Years Later. Vekrellis K, Emmanouilidou E, Xilouri M, Stefanis L. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2024 Nov 1;14(11):a041645. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041645. PMID: 39349314

Research Priorities on the Role of α-Synuclein in Parkinson's Disease Pathogenesis. Burré J, Edwards RH, .. Stefanis L, Woerman AL, ..Takahashi R; MDS Scientific Issues Committee. Mov Disord. 2024 Oct;39(10):1663-1678. doi: 10.1002/mds.29897. PMID: 38946200 Free PMC article.

Alpha-synuclein-induced stress sensitivity renders the Parkinson's disease brain susceptible to neurodegeneration.  Nakos Bimpos M, Karali K, .. Stefanis L, Polissidis A. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2024 Jun 17;12(1):100. doi: 10.1186/s40478-024-01797-w.PMID: 38886854 Free PMC article.

Parkin mRNA Expression Levels in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Parkin-Related Parkinson's Disease.  Papagiannakis N, Liu H, ..Gasser T, Stefanis L. Mov Disord. 2024 Apr;39(4):715-722. doi: 10.1002/mds.29739. PMID: 38357851

Differential intracellular trafficking of extracellular vesicles in microglia and astrocytes.  Pantazopoulou M, Lamprokostopoulou A, .. Stefanis L, Vekrellis K. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2023 Jun 30;80(7):193. doi: 10.1007/s00018-023-04841-5. PMID: 37391572 Free PMC article.

Impact of APOE Genotype on Cognition in Idiopathic and Genetic Forms of Parkinson's Disease.  Koros C, Brockmann K, .. Gasser T, Stefanis L. Mov Disord. 2023 May;38(5):907-909. doi: 10.1002/mds.29399. PMID: 37148559

Who Ever Said It Would Be Easy? Reflecting on Two Clinical Trials Targeting α-Synuclein.  Jensen PH, Schlossmacher MG, Stefanis L. Mov Disord. 2023 Mar;38(3):378-384. doi: 10.1002/mds.29318. PMID: 36645106

Functional Interaction Between α-Synuclein and Nurr1 in Dopaminergic Neurons.  Argyrofthalmidou M, Polissidis A, ..Spillantini MG, Stefanis L, Vassilatis DK. Neuroscience. 2022 Dec 1;506:114-126. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.10.011. PMID: 36270413

Distinct profiles of LRRK2 activation and Rab GTPase phosphorylation in clinical samples from different PD cohorts. Petropoulou-Vathi L, Simitsi A, …Stefanis L, Alcalay RN, Rideout HJ. NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2022 Jun 8;8(1):73. doi: 10.1038/s41531-022-00336-5.PMID: 35676398 Free PMC article.

Can We Treat Neurodegenerative Proteinopathies by Enhancing Protein Degradation?  Engelender S, Stefanis L, Oddo S, Bellucci A. Mov Disord. 2022 Jul;37(7):1346-1359. doi: 10.1002/mds.29058. PMID: 35579450

Lipid level alteration in human and cellular models of alpha synuclein mutations. Avisar H, Guardia-Laguarta C, …Przedborski S, Lerner B, Stefanis L, Area-Gomez E, Alcalay RN. NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2022 Apr 25;8(1):52. doi: 10.1038/s41531-022-00313-y.PMID: 35468903 Free PMC article.

High content screening and proteomic analysis identify a kinase inhibitor that rescues pathological phenotypes in a patient-derived model of Parkinson's disease. Antoniou N, … Stefanis L, Grailhe R, Taoufik E, Matsas R. NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2022 Feb 11;8(1):15. doi: 10.1038/s41531-022-00278-y.PMID: 35149677 Free PMC article.

Autophagy mediates the clearance of oligodendroglial SNCA/alpha-synuclein and TPPP/p25A in multiple system atrophy models. Mavroeidi P, … Jensen PH, Stefanis L, Xilouri M. Autophagy. 2022 Sep;18(9):2104-2133. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2021.2016256. PMID: 35000546 Free PMC article.

A double-hit in vivo model of GBA viral microRNA-mediated downregulation and human alpha-synuclein overexpression demonstrates nigrostriatal degeneration. Polissidis A, Koronaiou E… Stefanis L. Neurobiol Dis. 2022 Feb;163:105612. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105612. PMID: 34995756 Free article.

Alpha-synuclein research: defining strategic moves in the battle against Parkinson's disease. Oliveira LMA, Gasser T, .. Stefanis L, … Lansbury P, Outeiro TF. NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2021 Jul 26;7(1):65. doi: 10.1038/s41531-021-00203-9.PMID: 34312398 Free PMC article.

Nurr1 repression mediates cardinal features of Parkinson's disease in α-synuclein transgenic mice. Argyrofthalmidou M, …Vila M, Stefanis L, Vassilatis DK.Hum Mol Genet. 2021 Jul 28;30(16):1469-1483. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddab118. PMID: 33902111 Free PMC article.

A Novel SNCA A30G Mutation Causes Familial Parkinson's Disease. Liu H, Koros C, .. Zweckstetter M, Stefanis L, Gasser T. Mov Disord. 2021 Jul;36(7):1624-1633. doi: 10.1002/mds.28534. PMID: 33617693

Differentially Expressed Circular RNAs in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Parkinson's Disease. Ravanidis S, …Stefanis L, Doxakis E. Mov Disord. 2021 May;36(5):1170-1179. doi: 10.1002/mds.28467. PMID: 33433033 Free PMC article.

Psychosis-Like Behavior and Hyperdopaminergic Dysregulation in Human α-Synuclein BAC Transgenic Rats.  Polissidis A, Koronaiou M, … Xilouri M, Stefanis L. Mov Disord. 2021 Mar;36(3):716-728. doi: 10.1002/mds.28383. PMID: 33200461

Distinct alpha-Synuclein species induced by seeding are selectively cleared by the Lysosome or the Proteasome in neuronally differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. Pantazopoulou M, Brembati V, .. Stefanis L.J Neurochem. 2021 Mar;156(6):880-896. doi: 10.1111/jnc.15174. PMID: 32869336 Free article.

PubMed:

PubMed Link