Resume
Prof. Sophia Lionaki received her MD degree from the Medical School of the National University and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1996. She was trained in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at "Laiko" General Hospital. She was specialized in "Autoimmune Kidney Diseases of the kidney" in the United States for three years, at the world-renowned center for Glomerular Diseases in North Carolina (UNC Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina), where she was trained in the diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up of these patients. Initially she received an annual scholarship from the Hellenic Society of Nephrology, and subsequently she worked at the same center as a clinical researcher for two more years through a funded research program of the National Institute of Health (NIH) as head of clinical studies in the field of Glomerular Diseases. Her research work highlighted the diagnostic and prognostic significance of the serological phenotype in ANCA-vasculitides and the new classification of these diseases, the discovery of autoantibodies against plasminogen in PR3-ANCA vasculitis, the properties of T lymphocyte subpopulations in ANCA vasculitis, antibodies against the cPR3 105–201 protein in ANCA vasculitis, the role of levels of the C3 fraction of complement in ANCA-vasculitis with renal involvement, thromboembolic phenomena in membranous nephropathy, the significance of transient B lymphocyte depletion in lupus nephritis, the role of TNF-α in the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy, etc., resulting in more than 3000 citations in the international literature.
Between 2008 and 2021, she worked as a consultant in the National Health System of Greece, at the Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation Clinic at the "Laiko" General Hospital, a position she earned after a competitive election. In 2020, she was elected Assistant Professor of Nephrology at the National University and Kapodistrian University of Athens and in 2021, she took over as Scientific Director of the Nephrology Unit at the "Attiko" General Hospital. As the Head of the Nephrology Unit, together with her colleagues, expanded the clinical activities of the Department, with the launch of the Glomerular Diseases unit, the Interventional Nephrology unit and the addition of new specialized clinics (pre-transplantation screening, polycystic disease, etc.). She also developed the research work by participating in several research clinical protocols, organizing studies with National participation and the preparation of doctoral theses. Since 2022, she has been appointed the Head of the educational program of the 3rd and 4th year of the Faculty of Medicine in the National University and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the course of Semiology, Nosology and Differential diagnosis-Internal Medicine.