Serafim Kiriakidis

Dr Serafim Kiriakidis graduated as a Chemist in 1992 from the Rheinish Friedrich- Wilhems, University of Bonn, Germany, and obtained a DPhil (Dr rer. nat) with distinction in Biochemistry from the same University in 1997. He then continued his postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Pathology, University of Bonn in the group of Professor Nicolas Wernert. His research interests were focused on the effect of natural derived low molecular weight (polyphenols) in angiogenesis, cancer cell proliferation and tumor invasion.

In 2000 he moved to the UK and joined the group of Professor Sir Marc Feldmann, and Dr Ewa Paleolog at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (then affiliated with Imperial College London) where he investigated the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiogenesis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and expanded his expertise in inflammation and cytokine biology.

His awareness concerning the importance of hypoxia in inflammation led him to start investigating the role of hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF) in RA. Early in 2004, he joined the team of Professor Patrick H Maxwell one of the leaders on oxygen sensing research, at Imperial College London, where as a Senior Research Fellow he investigated the role of HIF and the HIF regulating enzymes (PHDs/FIH) in renal cancer. Hypoxia researchers Sir Peter Ratcliffe, Gregg L Semenza and William G Kaelin won the 2019 Nobel price in Medicine.

In 2008 he moved back to the Kennedy and continued with Professor Sir Marc Feldmann and Dr Ewa Paleolog his investigations on the role of hypoxia and  HIF signalling  in RA, colon cancer and vascular diseases (varicose veins). In August 2013, he joined Professor Peter Taylor’s group and together they have set up a new Translational Research Laboratory at the Botnar Research Centre, NDORMS, University of Oxford.

Dr Serafim Kiriakidis’ current research interests are focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathology of RA, and other musculoskeletal diseases, using  advantages offered by new technologies including CyTOF (mass cytometry), which might help elucidate why some drugs are efficacious in some but not all patients, allowing treatment regimens to be streamlined and refined.