George Carayanniotis

Professor of Medicine B.Sc., U. of Patras, Greece Ph.D., U. of Toronto (Immunology)

BioMedical Sciences Medicine


IMMUNE REGULATION OF THYROID DISEASE

Dr. Carayanniotis has recently announced his retirement after a 32-year service in the Faculty of Medicine, MUN. He was jointly appointed in the Divisions of Endocrinology and Biomedical Sciences.
His research focused on the immunoregulation of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT). By mapping and using thyroglobulin peptides as model antigens, he investigated mechanisms that prevent or ameliorate EAT. An additional focus of his research was the study of the role of iodine in accelerating spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis in mice. Iodine-induced apoptotic processes and immunological mechanisms leading to the induction of the disease by iodine were investigated.

Throughout his career, Dr. Carayanniotis' research was almost continually supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (former Medical Research Council of Canada). Other agencies, such as the Thyroid Foundation of Canada, NATO, the Burroughs-Wellcome Trust Fund and Memorial University, have provided support in the form of collaborative grants, travel grants, summer student scholarships and student fellowships.