Nikolaos Kyritsis

Nikolaos Kyritsis, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. His research focuses on traumatic spinal cord and brain injuries, utilizing high-throughput big data analytics for biomarker discovery and functional interventions.

• BSc/MSc in Biology (2009) - University of Ioannina, Greece
• PhD in Molecular Neurobiology (2013) - TU Dresden, Germany
• Postdoctoral training in Spinal Cord Injury (2020) - UCSF
• Completed DEI Champion Training (2022) - UCSF

Dr. Kyritsis employs machine learning and computational approaches to study neuroinflammation, neural stem cells, and CNS regeneration. His work spans:

• Development of blood RNA biomarkers for acute spinal cord injury
• Neuroinflammatory mechanisms in traumatic injuries
• Precision hemodynamic management in spinal cord trauma
• Machine learning applications for outcome prediction
• Therapeutic target identification (e.g., TNF-alpha inhibition)
• Neural stem cell reprogramming for regeneration

Key contributions include:

• Development of the syndRomics R package for disease space analysis
• Identification of ATF3 as neuron-specific injury biomarker
• Machine learning optimization of vasopressor protocols in acute SCI

Scientific accolades:

• BSRT PhD Student Award (2013)
• CRTD Best PhD Thesis Award (2014)
• Multiple Wings for Life and EMBO grants/fellowships
• Best Poster Awards at Wings for Life (2019) and ISNR (2020)

Actively collaborating with TRACK-SCI investigators and contributing to clinical trials in spinal cord injury management.