Prof. Constantinos Deltas 
Director

Constantinos Deltas studied Pharmacy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He received his PhD in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, in January 1988. While studying at Duke University School of Medicine in 1991, he was invited to work at the newly established Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, where he started the first molecular genetics laboratory on hereditary kidney diseases and other disorders. In 2002 he was elected Professor of Genetics at the newly established Department of Biological Sciences, of which he was the first President, contributing to the preparation of curricula and the organization of the first research laboratories. Since 2020 he is Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics at the Medical School of the University of Cyprus. Research in his laboratory, or in collaboration with other groups in Cyprus and abroad, led to the discovery of important new knowledge about new genes, mutations and molecular mechanisms that cause disease. His discoveries had a significant impact on international nephrology, contributing to the better diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of kidney diseases and were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Read More

Gregory Papagregoriou, PhD
Senior Scientist, Group Lead

Dr Gregory Papagregoriou has a long interest in studying rare kidney diseases. His research is focused on ADTKD-MUC1 a rare disease with high frequency in Cyprus, which he aspires to describe, identify robust biomarkers and therapeutic interventions.Dr Papagregoriou is an expert biobanker and geneticist, while he oversees the Next-Generation Sequencing facility of the biobank.cy CoE. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cyprus, an MRes in Medical and Molecular Biosciences from the University of Newcastle and a BSc in Biology from the Aristotele’s University in Thessaloniki.The years following his PhD, Dr Papagregoriou was a PostDoctoral fellow at the Molecular Medicine Research Center at the University of Cyprus working on the modulation of podocyte gene expression during differentiation through miRNA involvement at the transcriptional level, while he had the opportunity to set up and run the first NGS system in Cyprus.He developed a series of diagnostic NGS panels, including bioinformatic analyses and variant annotation pipelines. Then he joined the Kidney Disease Initiative at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to coordinate the biomarker discovery efforts and assay development for ADTKD-MUC1. Currently, he is a group leader and the lead scientist at biobank.cy CoE, under the direction of Prof. Constantinos Deltas.

Mariel Voutounou, PhD
Project Manager

Dr Voutounou holds a BSc in Biological Sciences, an MSc in Molecular Genetics, and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Leicester, UK, where her doctoral research focused on elucidating the link between epigenetic alterations and disease. Her scientific training equipped her with strong expertise in genetics, epigenetics, data interpretation, and research analysis. In 2012, she joined the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) in Brussels, Belgium, as a trainee within the Department of Health, gaining first-hand experience in regulatory frameworks, EU research policy, and science communication. From 2013 to 2017, Dr. Voutounou worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Burke Neurological Institute in New York, USA. Her work focused on the development of novel strategies to promote regeneration in the central and peripheral nervous systems, expanding her technical skills in biomedical research and translational science, while collaborating with multidisciplinary teams. In 2018, she earned an MBA from the University of Cyprus, with a focus on strategic planning, innovation management, and digital transformation. She subsequently joined KPMG Cyprus, where she worked in Digital Transformation and Management Consulting, enhancing her project coordination and stakeholder engagement abilities. Since 2019, Dr. Voutounou has served as Project Manager of the biobank.cy Centre of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research at the University of Cyprus. In this role, she leads the planning, administration, and implementation of complex, EU-funded research projects (including Horizon Europe), ensuring regulatory compliance, ethical oversight, and long-term strategic development. Dr. Voutounou combines deep scientific knowledge with strong leadership in project management and cross-border collaborations. She is fluent in English and Greek and is highly experienced in interdisciplinary research environments requiring coordination across academia, government, and industry.

Marina Constantinou Oratiou, ACCA (FCCA Fellow), MSc
Operations Manager

Marina Constantinou Oratiou is currently the Operations Manager of biobank.cy, Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research at the University of Cyprus. She is responsible for overseeing all financial, human resources, and operational activities of the Centre.With over 15 years of experience, Mrs. Constantinou has extensive knowledge and expertise in the fields of finance, human resource management, strategic planning, forecasting and budgeting as well as administrative experience with European and national funded research projects.

She has been trained and worked in several positions and has held roles ranging from external Auditor to Chief Financial Officer for both national companies, international enterprises and at the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences of the University of Cyprus.She is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC), a Chartered Accountant, and a Fellow member (FCCA) of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. She holds an MSc in Professional Accountancy from the University of London, academically led by UCL.

 Apostolos Malatras, PhD
IT Manager, Senior Bioinformatician

Apostolos Malatras holds a degree in Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics, an MSc in Bioinformatics, and a joint Ph.D. in Systems Biology and Bioinformatics. His interests are in the fields of bioinformatics, systems biology, health, and biobank informatics. He has more than 10 years of experience in the proper accumulation, integration, curation, and analysis of omics data (gen-, trancript-, prote-) and have developed several online tools and databases, including HGCA, CellWhere, and MyoMiner. He is currently working at the biobank.cy, Center of Excellence for Biobanking and Biomedical Research as the Information Technology Manager to digitalize and harmonize the biobanking data and IT infrastructure and lead the biobank IT team. As Senior Bioinformatician, he manages, secures, analyzes, and standardizes clinical and genomics data, and leads the bioinformatics team. He has developed, designed, and is the database administrator of several genomics and biobank applications and databases, gaining in-depth knowledge of Biobanking software and skills that are utilized in biobank.cy, including federated dataset management and analysis from multiple pathologies, homogenization of clinical and experimental data, expertise in various statistical and data analysis methods relating to stratified medicine, optimizing knowledge on hosting platforms for biobank software solutions, identification, and planning of appropriate data storage and High-Performance Computing resources necessary to support data storage and information analysis.

Georgia Charalambidou, PhD
ELSI and Education Manager / Researcher

Dr. Georgia Charalambidou is a legal professional with an academic background and diverse experience in the field of law, bioethics, and medical jurisprudence. She holds an LLB (Laws) from the University of Nicosia and University of London, an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics from the University of Edinburgh, and a PhD in Bioethics and Medical Jurisprudence from the University of Manchester. She taught Medical Law and Family Law at a private University in Cyprus, and she is currently teaching Law and Ethics for the MSc in Biobanking of Medical University of Graz in Austria. She is also a register lawyer, the President of Kyrenia School Board, and the NCP of European Health Association for Cyprus. Georgia’s primary research interests include the legal and ethical regulation of medical research, the right to privacy, the right to science, informed consent, researchers’ integrity, research ethics, family involvement in medical decision making, data protection, GDPR, patients’ rights and bioethics. 

Charalambos Argyrou, MSc
Biobank Manager

Charalambos Argyrou holds an MS in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His educational journey is complemented by extensive hands-on experience in diverse research settings, with a strong background in biobanking and neuroscience research.

Charalambos has worked in emergency and mental health services before contributing to projects within the Stony Brook and Mount Sinai Hospital systems in New York. There, he oversaw daily research operations and coordinated personnel to streamline biospecimen collection and banking. He also built data warehouses to optimize processes from data capture to manipulation and analysis, fostering collaborations to establish sample and data pipelines from clinics around the city.

Additionally, he has developed and implemented protocols for study start-ups and procedures that adhere to the principles of good clinical practice.