Eleni Vergadi, MD, PhD

Member

Paediatric Research Laboratory
Division of Mother and Child Health
University of Crete Medical School

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

Tel: +30-2810-394665 (lab)
Tel: +30-2810-392290 (clinic)

Research

Sepsis is the host’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection that affects all populations and age groups. In the neonatal period, sepsis leads to higher mortality and serious neurobehavioral disabilities. Newborns and young infants have well described deficits in innate and adaptive immunity that place them at risk for serious bacterial infections.

Our main research interests are the understanding of the innate immune responses of neonates and young infants to bacterial infections and the identification of the immune pathways that cause susceptibility of neonatal hosts to sepsis.

More specifically, we are interested in:

• Delineation of TLR signaling regulators and long non-coding RNAs that differentially control the neonatal monocyte responses to TLR stimulation compared to adults.
• Investigation of the mechanism of autophagy mediated phagocytosis (LC3 associated - LAP) in the neonatal immune system and its role in eliminating group B streptococcal infections.
• The expression and function of endogenous inhibitors of leucocyte adhesion in the innate immune responses of young hosts, based on a murine model of neonatal polymicrobial sepsis.