Dimitrios Korentzelos, MD
Dimitrios was born in Greece and obtained his M.D. from the School of Health Sciences in the University of Patras. While in medical school, he developed an early interest in Pathology as well as Cancer Biology. After finishing a year of pathology training in Greece, he pursued a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center focusing on prostate cancer under the mentorship of Timothy C. Thompson, PhD. His main area of interest was the development of resistance mechanisms to androgen receptor inhibition therapy as well as the emergence of treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Through the collaboration with a genitourinary pathologist, Patricia Troncoso, MD, his passion for Pathology was fueled even further and in 2018 he started his Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dimitrios is conducting his PIRRT research in the lab of Alan Wells, MD, DMSc. His focus is on metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer immunotherapy in an effort to link the underlying biology to the disease and develop novel therapeutic approaches. Dimitrios plans on pursuing fellowships in Genitourinary Pathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology. Outside of the lab/hospital, he enjoys playing tennis at Highland Park, watching films and reading literature.
Katherine Killian, DO
Kat grew up in Tennessee and completed her BA in Japanese and World Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In undergrad, she participated in research focused on methods of Pseudomonas's virulency and exposing potential mechanisms involved in its survival and growth rate, specifically in Cystic Fibrosis patients.
Kat is spending her PIRRT research year working with Dr. Tim Oury and Dr. Timothy Perkins, investigating the role of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) in lung disease. This transmembrane protein receptor has been historically linked to several inflammatory mediated chronic diseases and is most abundantly expressed in the lungs. She has also been awarded a position in the Pittsburgh Innovation in Collaborative Training of Residents alliance, or PICTOR alliance program. She has been granted an R-38 in the basic translational track to pursue the role of RAGE in airway inflammation.
Kat plans on pursuing a career as a physician scientist focused on obstructive airway disease and pulmonary pathophysiology. In her free time she likes to spend time with her cats and her husband playing video games, table-top gaming, mushrooming, and gardening.
Yannis Hadjiyannis, MD
My academic career and previous research experience has its foundation in molecular genetics, immunology, and oncology. I started my undergraduate education in molecular genetics/cancer biology within the Leone laboratory at The Ohio State University, studying the E2F family of transcription factors and PTEN signaling.
During my medical school education, was offered a Medical Student Research Scholarship to identify small cell lung cancer's in vitro mutational landscape following standard therapy. However, after the untimely death of a loved one, I deferred this opportunity and training. A year later, I took a leave of absence during the 2019-2020 academic year to participate in the Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP), formerly the Howard-Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Program, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Through this year-long residential research program for future clinician-scientists, I worked under the mentorship of Dr. Michail Lionakis. In this role, I completed both clinical and translational research on the rare monogenic disorder: Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED). This autoimmune disorder is caused by AIRE mutations leading to a loss of central immune tolerance and the development of autoreactive T cells. In addition to the aforementioned positions, I also found time during my medical school education to focus on case reports, non-DOI publications, and quality improvement projects in hematology, nephrology, and pediatrics.
Currently, my clinical areas of interest are quite broad. Ultimately, I hope to continue my training in molecular genetics and immunology with the goal of combining these specific fields of study with my final subspeciality in pathology.