Dorovini-Zis, Katerina

Portrait photo of Katerina  Dorovini-Zis

Dr.

Dorovini-Zis, Katerina

MD, FRCPC

Academic Ranks(s):

Professor Emerita

Affiliations(s):

VGH/VCHRIICORD Research Center

Short Bio
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Katerina Dorovini-Zis, MD, FRCPC, is Professor Emerita of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Dorovini-Zis earned her M.D. degree from the National University of Athens, Greece. She completed a residency in anatomical pathology and neuropathology at Vancouver General Hospital. After a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, supported by a Fogarty Fellowship (1977-1980), she joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1980. She joined the faculty of the University of British Columbia in 1985. She worked as Consultant Neuropathologist at Vancouver General Hospital and served as Head of the Division of Neuropathology from 1994 to 2007. She was the director of the Neuropathology Research Laboratory from 1985 to 2018.

Academic
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Academic Background

  • National University of Athens MD. 1969
  • Residency in Anatomical Pathology (VGH) and Neuropathology (VGH) 1971-1976
  • Fogarty Fellowship, NINDS, N.I.H. 1977-1980

Dr. Dorovini-Zis has held memberships with many organizations. She has served on grant review committees for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Alberta Health Foundation for Medical Research, as editorial board member in several journals and as ad hoc reviewer for numerous scientific journals and granting agencies. She has authored and co-authored over 70 publications, several book chapters and published two books on the Blood-Brain Barrier in Health and Disease.

 

Awards and Recognition

  • Teacher Investigator Award, NINDS, N.I.H. 1982-85
  • Women in Neuroimmunology Award. 1998
  • Honorable Mention-Weil Award for Best Paper in Experimental Neuropathology. 1998
  • David Hardwick Life Time Achievement Award, UBC Department of Pathology, 2012.

Publications

  • Dorovini-Zis K, Stins M, Desruisseaux MS, Martins YC, van der Heyde H. The brain microvasculature in cerebral malaria. In: The Blood- Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 2: Pathophysiology and Pathology. Dorovini-Zis K (Ed), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2016, pp 68-117.
  • Dorovini-Zis K. (Editor). The Blood-Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 2: Pathophysiology and Pathology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA. 2016.
  • Dorovini-Zis K. (Editor). The Blood-Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 1: Morphology, Biology and Immune Function. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA. 2015.
  • Dorovini-Zis K, Nag S. Morphological and functional properties of the blood-brain barrier. In: The Blood- Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 1: Morphology, Biology and Immune Function. Dorovini-Zis K (Ed), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2015, pp 1-50.
  • Dorovini-Zis K, Easton A. Inflammatory mediators and the blood-brain barrier. In: The Blood- Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 1: Morphology, Biology and Immune Function. Dorovini-Zis K (Ed), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2015, pp 239-288.
  • Dorovini-Zis K. Endothelial surface-associated molecules of relevance to the immune function of the blood-brain barrier. In: The Blood- Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 1: Morphology, Biology and Immune Function. Dorovini-Zis K (Ed), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2015, pp 289-330.
  • Quandt J, Dorovini-Zis K. Chemokines as mediators of leukocyte trafficking and activation at the blood-brain barrier. In: The Blood- Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 1: Morphology, Biology and Immune Function. Dorovini-Zis K (Ed), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2015, pp331-355.
  • Dorovini-Zis K, Wong D, Liu K. Leukocyte entry into the brain. In: The Blood- Brain Barrier in Health and Disease. Volume 1: Morphology, Biology and Immune Function. Dorovini-Zis K (Ed), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2015, pp356-403.
  • Greiner J, Dorovini-Zis K. Taylor TE, Molyneux ME, Beare NAV, Kamiza S, White VA. Correlation of hemorrhage, axonal damage and blood-tissue barrier disruption in brain and retina of Malawian children with fatal cerebral malaria. FCIMB 2015 Mar 16;5:18. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2015.00018.
  • Zis O, Zhang S, Dorovini-Zis K, Wang L, Song W. Hypoxia signaling regulates macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) expression in stroke. Mol. Neurobiol. 2015 Feb.51(1):155-167.
  • Liu KYK, Dorovini-Zis, K. Differential regulation of CD4+ T cell adhesion to cerebral microvascular endothelium by the b-chemokines CCL2 and CCL3. Int. J. Mo.l Sc. 2012:13:16119-40. PMID:23203188.
  • Dorovini-Zis K, Schmidt K, Huynh H, Fu W, Whitten RO, Milner D, Kamiza S, Molyneux M, Taylor TE. The Neuropathology of fatal cerebral malaria in Malawian children. Am. J. Pathology.2011 May;178 (5):2146-58.
  • Casiraghi C, Dorovini-Zis K, Horwitz MS. Epstein-Barr virus infection of human brain microvessel endothelial cells: a novel role in multiple sclerosis. J Neuroimmunol. 2011 Jan;230(1-2):173-7.
  • Chui R, Dorovini-Zis K. Regulation of CCL2 and CCL3 expression in human brain endothelial cells by cytokines and lipopolysaccharide. J Neuroinflammation. 2010 Jan 4;7:1. Jan 2010
  • Liu KK, Dorovini-Zis K. Regulation of CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression by human brain endothelial cells and their role in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell adhesion and transendothelial migration. J Neuroimmunol. 2009 Oct 30;215(1-2):49-64.
  • Dorovini-Zis K, Schmidt K, Huynh H, Fu W, Whitten RO, Milner D, Kamiza S, Molyneux M, Taylor TE. The Neuropathology of fatal cerebral malaria in Malawian children. Am. J. Pathology.2011 May;178 (5):2146-58.
  • Casiraghi C, Dorovini-Zis K, Horwitz MS. Epstein-Barr virus infection of human brain microvessel endothelial cells: a novel role in multiple sclerosis. J Neuroimmunol. 2011 Jan;230(1-2):173-7.
  • Chui R, Dorovini-Zis K. Regulation of CCL2 and CCL3 expression in human brain endothelial cells by cytokines and lipopolysaccharide. J Neuroinflammation. 2010 Jan 4;7:1. Jan 2010
  • Liu KK, Dorovini-Zis K. Regulation of CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression by human brain endothelial cells and their role in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell adhesion and transendothelial migration. J Neuroimmunol. 2009 Oct 30;215(1-2):49-64.
  • Arjmandi A, Liu K, Dorovini-Zis K. Dendritic cell adhesion to cerebral endothelium: role of endothelial cell adhesion molecules and their ligands. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2009 Mar;68(3):300-13.
Research
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Research Interest

Dr. Dorovini-Zis’ primary research interest is to understand the mechanisms of leukocyte recruitment across the blood-brain barrier in central nervous system inflammation, focusing on the role of the cerebral endothelium as an active participant in this process. Upon founding her independent Neuropathology Research Laboratory in 1985, she established the first in vitro model of the human blood-brain barrier that mimics the blood-brain barrier in vivo. This model has been used in her laboratory to investigate the mechanisms that support adhesion and migration of different leukocyte subtypes (lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, dendritic cells) across the blood-brain barrier and determine the effects of inflammatory mediators on barrier permeability and on how endothelial-derived adhesion molecules, class II MHC, costimulatory molecules and chemokines mediate leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions at the human blood-brain barrier. Her interests extend to the study of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in infectious and inflammatory CNS diseases with particular emphasis on the mechanisms responsible for blood-brain barrier dysfunction and brain damage in pediatric cerebral malaria.

 

Current Projects In My Lab Include

Teaching
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Teaching Interest

Dr. Dorovini-Zis has been actively involved in undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate teaching and in the primary supervision of PhD, MSc, visiting, undergraduate students and post-doctoral fellows.