Panos Bitsios

Panos Bitsios, MD/PhD

School of  Medicine / Department of  PsychiatryProfessor A'

University of Crete

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: +30 2810 394610

Lab web page: http://bitsioslab.med.uoc.gr

Education

1985      BS in Medicine, Aristotle University of  Thessaloniki

1993      Certificate of Completion of  Psychiatric Training

1997      PhD in Psychopharmacology, University of  Nottingham

97-99     Postdoctoral Fellow, University of  Nottingham

Research Interests

Translational research in psychiatry with a focus on developing and exploring valid translational paradigms in humans for research in the psychoses, affective processing in mood disorders, anxiety and arousal. We study (endo)phenotypes such as the prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response, aspects of cognition and the modulation of startle and the pupillary light reflexes by affective states, threat, and arousal. We investigate the genetic architecture of these phenotypes, their association with cognitive functions, personality dimensions and their response to pharmacological and psychological interventions in healthy subjects, high risk populations and patients. The central aim is to characterize these phenotypes, in the belief that learning about them will inform us on core pathophysiological dimensions and the neurobiology of psychosis and anxiety. We hope that this will aid psychiatric diagnosis, facilitate the development of customized treatments and ultimately improve patient care. A large part of this work is focused on the neurobiology and genetics of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Funding 

Onassis Institute and other private benefactors, General Secretariat of  Research and Technology – GSRT,

 Leonardo EU, Janssen-Cilag

Recent Publications or Selected Publications

Roussos P, Giakoumaki SG, Rogdaki M, Pavlakis S, Frangou S, Bitsios P (2008). Prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex in healthy males depends on the catechol O-methyltransferase Val158Met gene polymorphism. Psychological Medicine 38(11):1651-8.

Roussos P, Giakoumaki SG, Bitsios P (2009). Tolcapone effects on gating, working memory and mood interact with the synonymous COMT rs4818C/G polymorphism.Biol Psychiatry 66(11):997-1004.

Giakoumaki SG, Bitsios P, Frangou S, Roussos P, Aasen I, Galea A, Kumari V (2010).Low Baseline Startle and Deficient Affective Startle Modulation in Remitted Bipolar Disorder Patients and their Unaffected Siblings. Psychophysiology 47: 659-668.

Lencz T, Knowles E, Davies G, Guha S, Liewald DC, Starr JM, Djurovic S, Melle I, Sundet K, Christoforou A, Reinvang I, Mukherjee S, Derosse P, Lundervold A, Steen VM, John M, Espeseth T, Räikkönen K, Widen E, Palotie A, Eriksson JG, Giegling I, Konte B, Ikeda M, Roussos P, Giakoumaki S, Burdick KE, Payton A, Ollier W, Horan M, Donohoe G, Morris D, Corvin A, Gill M, Pendleton N, Iwata N, Darvasi A, Bitsios P, Rujescu D, Lahti J, Hellard SL, Keller MC, Andreassen OA, Deary IJ, Glahn DC, Malhotra AK. Molecular genetic evidence for overlap between general cognitive ability and risk for schizophrenia: a report from the Cognitive Genomics consorTium (COGENT) (2014). Mol Psychiatry. 19(2):168-74.

Panos Roussos, Stella G Giakoumaki, Chrysoula Zouraki, John F Fullard, Vasiliki Eirini Karagiorga, Eva-Maria Tsapakis, Zoe Petraki, Larry J Siever, Todd Lencz, Anil Malhotra, Cleanthe Spanaki, Panos Bitsios. (2016). The Relationship of Common Risk Variants and Polygenic Risk for Schizophrenia to Sensorimotor Gating. Biological Psychiatry79(12):988-96.