Spiros Garbis, PhD

JAD profile

Affiliation(s): 

University of Southampton

Areas of Interest: 

analysis, clinical biomarkers, pharmacology, environmental and toxin mediators

Biography & Research: 

Dr. Spiros D. Garbis is an Associate Professor for the Faculty of Medicine and Head of Clinical Mass Spectrometry group for the Cancer Sciences Academic Unit. Dr. Garbis has USA industrial and forensic analytical toxicology experience and since his fulltime return to academia in 2004, he has been pivotal to the development and application of mass spectrometry proteomics and metabolomics methods in the discovery and validation of candidate biomarkers with potential clinical utility for the early diagnosis of cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease linked to metabolic syndrome. A key theme of his research is to understand gene-nutrient interactions at the endophenotypic protein and metabolite level with the use of stable isotope tracer approaches in cell culture, animal models, and humans. Therefore, the inquiry on the functional interplay between spontaneous mutations of nutrient or pharmacologic receptors and their enzyme substrates may contribute to metabolic syndrome and derivative communicative (HIV and Tuberculosis) and non-communicative (cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and cancer) disease states.A key research objective of Dr. Garbis is the development of a non-invasive blood test that can assist clinical decision making. Such a blood test will not only influence the choice of drugs needed for personalized therapy, but will also assist the prevention of disease. In this capacity, this early and non-invasive clinical assessment will enable a less reactive medicinal interventyion, focused on health maintenance and disease prevention rather than disease therapy. Dr. Garbis research efforts over the past decade have contributed in the ability to measure molecular perturbations from the local tissue level up to the systemic circulation level.