Major research interests of the Molecular Virology Department relate to the study of persistent viral infections of the central nervous system, the study of the involvement of Herpesviruses in the aetiology of Multiple Sclerosis, the relationship between the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer and the epidemiology of a wide range of viruses in Cyprus. More specifically, the research topics currently under investigations include:

• Investigating the interplay between Natural Killer cells and herpesviruses (EBV, HSV, etc) that might be implicated in the onset and/or progression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Characterization of EBV genetic variants in MS patients versus healthy controls
• Investigate the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in MS
• Investigate the profile and level of EBV mRNAs in MS progression
• Investigate the possible involvement of herpesviruses (EBV, HSV, etc) in Parkinson’s disease
• Epidemiology of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) prevalence and type distribution in Cypriot women with cervical cytological abnormalities
• Production, modification and purification of Lentiviral and AAV vectors for gene therapy approaches
• Surveillance, molecular characterization and epidemiology of enteroviruses, respiratory viruses and vector-borne viruses such as West-Nile virus, in Cyprus