FACULTY

Anne Clark

Anne Clark is a Principal Investigator in Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) with a specialty in the structure and function of pancreatic islets in Type 2 diabetes.

In 1987, with the late Professor Robert Turner, her team identified the peptide component of amyloid deposits (islet amyloid polypeptide, amylin) that form in the pancreatic islets in Type 2 diabetes. Her current interests include protein folding and amyloid formation, lipid handling in islets and structure and function of pancreatic islets in health and disease using light and electron microscopy; collaborators include colleagues in UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

She participates in graduate teaching programmes in UK and Europe, reviews grant applications and manuscripts for scientific journals.

Grigorios Leontiadis

Qualified from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1992 and trained in Gastroenterology in Greece and in the UK. He worked in the UK as a Consultant Gastroenterologist, and in Greece in private practice (Thessaloniki) and as a Lecturer (Democritus University of Thrace). In 2008 he moved to McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine.

His research interests include non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, H. pylori infection and methodology of systematic reviews. He has 29 Medline-indexed publications, Impact Factor 113, Citation Index 660, h-index 11. In 2005 he was selected by the Emerging Leaders Programme as one of the 40 best young GI researchers worldwide. In 2008 he was involved in the development of the Hellenic and the international guidelines on the management of non-variceal upper GI bleeding.

He is the Deputy Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Upper GI & Pancreatic Diseases Group, Associate Editor of American Journal of Gastroenterology (starting July 2009), Editorial Board member of Annals of Gastroenterology and Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association review committee for non-variceal Upper GI bleeding.

Jonathan Levy

Dr Jonathan Levy is Clinical Director of the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) and is responsible for the delivery of specialist National Health Service diabetes care for Oxfordshire where he is also actively involved in teaching.

He is based in the University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and his research interests focus on the pathophysiology and treatment of type 2 diabetes. He is a member of the steering committee of the 4-T (Treat to Target in Type 2 diabetes) trial and a co-author on publications arising from the study. He has published papers on the assessment of β-cell function, insulin resistance in diabetes and on potential treatments for diabetes.

David R. Matthews

David Matthews is Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Oxford, Medical Tutor, at Harris Manchester College, consultant physician and the Chairman of the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM), one of the largest combined academic and clinical centres for diabetes and endocrinology in the UK.

His academic research interests include mathematical modelling of insulin resistance. There is a research focus on physiological research into diabetes agents, in particular at the level of the beta-cell involving incretins and sulphonylureas. An ongoing concern about the world pandemic of diabetes resulted in the founding of the Oxford Health Alliance which published its ‘Grand challenges’ in Nature in 2007 (www.3four50.com) and is working towards combating the scourge of the diabetes epidemic in the world. We are establishing an observational link to the Andover Vision project – a UK civic renewal programme.

He is the author of more than 200 publications and is on the editorial boards of several professional journals.

Nikolaos Papanas

Dr. Nikolaos Papanas was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and studied Medicine at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2002, he defended his dissertation on the co-existence of peripheral arterial and coronary artery disease in patients with diabetes. Between 2003 and 2008, he worked as Senior Lecturer in Internal Medicine at Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece. Since 2008, his current position is Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine at the same university.

He was trained in diabetes and its complications in the Diabetes Centre and the Diabetic Foot Clinic at King’s College Hospital, London, UK. He has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has also participated with numerous presentations in Greek and European medical congresses and repeatedly been invited reviewer in medical journals.

Athanasios Raptis

Athanasios Raptis is Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine in the 2nd Dept. of Internal Medicine Propaedeutic, Research Institute and Diabetes Center of Athens University Medical School at Attikon Univ. Hospital. He gained his PhD from Athens Univ. Medical School in 1988.

He worked as Research Associate for two years in the Dept of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Internal Medicine in United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospitals, UK, in the field of Diabetic Nephropathy and Hypertension. Dr. Raptis’ special fields of study, except Internal Medicine, include Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetic Nephropathy and Hypertension.

Apostolos Tsapas

Dr. Apostolos Tsapas was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and studied Medicine at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is currently Assistant Professor of Medicine and Principal Investigator in the Diabetes Clinic at the Second Medical Department of the Aristotle University Thessaloniki in Ippokratio Hospital. He is a Senior Research Fellow in the Medical Academy within Harris Manchester College, Oxford UK. He was trained in diabetes in the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) with Prof. Dr Matthews, with a fellowship from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (Albert Renold Fellowship – EFSD). This was the starting point for the setup of Oxford Thessaloniki Diabetes Forum.

His main research interests focus on research methodology, evidence-based medicine/diabetology, translational research/knowledge translation and physiological studies in diabetes. He is currently studying for an MSc in Evidence-Βased Health Care in the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Oxford UK.