Current Position

Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics

Head of the Molecular Genetics, Function & Therapy Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics

Professor & Provost, CING Postgraduate School

Research Interests

• Oligonucleotide-based therapy for Muscular Dystrophy
• Development of novel therapeutic delivery vehicles for Muscular Dystrophy
• Exosomal and miRNA biomarkers in Myotonic Dystrophy
• Molecular investigations of inherited diseases
   

Biography

Prof Leonidas A. Phylactou has received his Bachelor’s with honours in Medical Biochemistry (first class) from the University of Birmingham UK in 1992 and his PhD in molecular genetics/gene therapy from the same University in 1995. During his PhD he spent most of the time in the University of Connecticut Health Centre where he developed a gene therapy approach for Marfan syndrome. He then moved to Oxford University for a post-doctoral position where he led a research team of a PhD student and 2 research assistants on the use of catalytic RNAs as tools for gene therapy in the brain and muscle. In 1998 he established the Laboratory of Molecular Function and Therapy at CING to investigate and develop novel ways to study gene function and exploit gene therapy approaches. In 2005, he took over the department of Molecular Genetics C at CING which was then renamed to department of Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy. He currently runs a department composed mainly of postdoctoral scientists and postgraduate students. From March 2014 to July 2015, Prof Leonidas A. Phylactou served as the Acting Chief Executive Medical Director of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics and Acting Provost of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine (CSMM).  He had a catalytic involvement to the development of CSMM, in which he served as first Dean.  Prof Leonidas A. Phylactou secured research funding from several local and international funding organisations and published extensively in the areas of molecular genetics, gene function and gene therapy. Prof Leonidas A. Phylactou  sits on the Editorial Boards of the peer-reviewed journals Molecules and Pharmaceuticals.  As of November 2015, Prof. Leonidas A. Phylactou, is the Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics and the Provost of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine.