Despina Siolas Earns Ph.D

Despina Siolas, Ph.D Despina Siolas of Bayside and Mattituck, New York was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics on May 22, 2008 at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The title of her dissertation was "shRNA Barcode Screens as a Tool for Discovering Gene Function". She is enrolled in the federally funded MD/PhD. program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, the leading international institute for DNA research, and SUNY Stony Brook Medical School. Her mentors are Dr. Greg Hannon, fourth ranked biology scientist in the world, with whom she conducted research for eight years, and Nobel Prize-winning DNA pioneer Dr. James Watson. Dr. Siolas said her research will "increase the efficiency in finding genes to improve chemotherapy".

Her public Doctoral Dissertation Defense was held at Busch Auditorium of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory with a PowerPoint presentation. More than 100 persons from the student body of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watson School of Biological Sciences, SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine and professors from MIT, Cornel, SUNY Stony Brook, Touro and St. John's Universities attended. Dr. Siolas explained, "RNAi is used in biological research and in the pharmaceutical industry. This process allows scientists to examine the effects on a cell or an organism of eliminating or decreasing the function of a chosen gene. RNAi is a tool that can expedite the validation of novel drug targets. Improving this shRNA process will streamline drug discovery and increase the number of drug candidates in pharmaceutical pipelines."

Dr. Siolas added, "My grandfather said he worked hard all his life to educate my mother and myself. My parents worked hard to educate me. Today, this degree is theirs as it is mine. My advisor, Dr. Greg Hannon, said, 'Don't be afraid to dream. Always take the high road.'"

Despina Siolas was awarded her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from St. John's University with summa cum laude honors in 2001. She was the first student in the history of St. John's University to be accepted in the MD/PhD Program of SUNY Stony Brook Medical School.

Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny, Stony Brook University president, in the 2005-2006 issue of the Graduate Student Achievements (GSA), congratulated Siolas on her collaboration with Dr. Hannon that led to the highest grant of the period. Her research Breast Cancer Research Program idea raised $500,000 for SUNY. She has presented papers at the Annual American Association for Cancer research (AACR) and was the representative for the Northeastern Region of the American Medical Association (AMA). She has met with Congressmembers Gary Ackerman and Tim Bishop in Washington D.C. to discuss the interests of the medical profession. She will return to SUNY/Stony Brook Medical School to complete her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in September 2008. She is the daughter of Dr. John G. Siolas and Catherine Tsounis. Her mother and late, maternal grandparents, Mr. George and Cleo Tsounis, were founders of the Transfiguration of Christ Greek Orthodox Church in Mattituck, Long Island.