Vasilis Raptis

Thesis title: Dissecting the genetic risk factors for delirium and identification of therapeutic targets

Biography

Background

Vasilis studied Biological Sciences, with a focus on molecular biology and genetics, at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece (2015 to 2020). He obtained his MSc in Quantitative Genetics from the University of Edinburgh in 2021, receiving the Douglas Falconer Prize awarded to the best performing student in the MSc. He gained research experience in human quantitative genetics in Albert Tenesa’s lab through his MSc thesis, focusing on the host genetic background of COVID-19 risk and his subsequent research assistant role (2021 to 2022), working on the genetic and transcriptomic aspect of partner similarity in humans in the UK. He is currently working towards his PhD, funded by the Advanced Care Research Centre at University of Edinburgh and the Dunhill Medical Trust, under the supervision of Prof. Albert Tenesa (Roslin Institute), Dr. Tim Cannings (School of Mathematics) and Prof. Alasdair MacLullich (Usher Institute). His project is aiming to understand how our genome in conjunction with other “omic” factors can affect our risk of developing delirium.

 

Qualifications

  • PhD with Integrated Study (2022-present), University of Edinburgh, UK
  • MSc in Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis (2020-21), University of Edinburgh, UK
  • BSc in Biology (2015-20), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece 

Undergraduate teaching

Demonstrator:

  • "Biology 1A: Variation" (BILG08020), School of Biological Sciences. (2024-present)

This role involves guiding students during field trips, helping them acquire basic field work skills such as observation and measurement.

Postgraduate teaching

Demonstrator :

  • “Linkage and Association in Genomic Analysis” (PGBI11086), Quantitative Genetics Suite of MSc programmes, School of Biological Sciences. (2023-present)

This role involves helping students during 3-hour weekly computer practicals, focused on acquiring hands-on experience on a wide range of the latest quantitative genetic methods. 

Research summary

My research interests lie into studying the multi- “omic” background of complex diseases in humans, through quantitative genetic and machine learning methods. I am also interested in the application of genomics in improving healthcare practices, especially regarding people in later life.  

Affiliated research centres

Project activity

PhD:

My project aims to uncover the complex nature of delirium’s pathophysiology, by incorporating large-scale molecular data (genomic, proteomic, metabolomic) for the discovery and validation of delirium biological risk factors. Better characterisation of such factors can pave the way for personalised medicine efforts to predict, prevent and treat delirium.

 

 

Conference details

 

Best poster award for my poster titled “Dissecting the genetic and proteomic risk factors of delirium”.

Poster presentation.

Part of the organising committee.

  • Raptis, V., Bhak, Y., Cannings, T. I., MacLullich, A. M. J., & Tenesa, A. (2024). Dissecting the genetic and proteomic risk factors for delirium. MedRxiv, 2024.10.11.24315324. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.11.24315324
  • Raptis, V., Mullin, D., Syed, S., Deary, I. J., Cox, S. R., Russ, T. C., & Luciano, M. (2024). Interplay between polygenic effects and polypharmacy on dementia: An investigation in an elderly Scottish cohort. MedRxiv, 2024.11.01.24316584. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.01.24316584

 

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