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Stavroula Tsitkanou, Ph.D.

Title
Institution
Department
Address
Profile Picture

Biography
education and training
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, GreeceBSc07/2013Sports Science
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, GreeceMSc07/2016Muscle Biology in Exercise Science
Deakin University, Melbourne, AustraliaPhD09/2021Muscle Biology in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
University of Arkansas, Arkansas, USAPost Doc06/2024Muscle Biology in Cancer Cachexia
awards and honors
2023
Research Recognition Award in Cell & Molecular Physiology (by American Physiological Society)
2022
Young Investigator Award (15th International Conference on Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle Wasting)
2019
Nina Buscombe Travel Award (Motor Neuron Disease Victoria)
2017 - 2020
PhD top-up scholarship to study abroad (Onassis Foundation, Greece)
2017 - 2020
International PhD scholarship (Deakin University)
2016
2nd place award for poster presentation (National Conference of Physiology of Exercise, Greece)
2015
3rd place award for oral presentation (National Conference of Physiology of Exercise, Greece)
2014 - 2016
MSc scholarship (Onassis Foundation, Greece)
2012 - 2013
BSc scholarship (4th year; Antonis Papadakis Scholarship Program, Greece)
2011 - 2012
BSc scholarship as student with the highest grades(3rd year; State Scholarships Foundation, Greece)
2010 - 2011
BSc scholarship as student with the highest grades(2nd year; State Scholarships Foundation, Greece)
2009 - 2010
BSc scholarship as student with the highest grades (1st year; State Scholarships Foundation, Greece)

Overview
overview
Stavroula Tsitkanou (Roula for short) is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Dr. Rutkove laboratory (Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School) from September 2024. Her research interests are mainly related to muscle biology and exercise physiology, in alignment with pathology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and other compromised skeletal muscle conditions. Roula is currently working on understanding the paradoxical relationship of exercise and ALS, as well as the contribution of skeletal muscle in ALS pathogenesis. Before joining the Dr. Rutkove laboratory, Roula was working as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Cachexia Research Laboratory (University of Arkansas) for 2.5 years, investigating potential mitochondrial-targeted therapeutics for cancer cachexia. Roula graduated her PhD from Deakin University (Australia) in 2021, investigating potential therapeutic interventions for ALS using microRNA technologies and exercise training. Aside from her 8-year experience in animal studies, Roula was also working during her MSc (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) in human studies related to acute and long-term exercise-induced skeletal muscle adaptations. Her passion about exercise physiology and muscle biology was sparkled from when she was track-and-field athlete in Greece (third place in Greek National Championship Under 23 in 3km steeplechase in 2012) endeavoring to understand her own athletic performance and improvement.
keywords
webpage

Research
research activities and funding
The research activities and funding listed below are automatically derived from NIH ExPORTER and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing items. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
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  1. (Stavroula Tsitkanou) Sep 8, 2023 - Sep 8, 2025
    Women’s Giving Circle grant, University of Arkansas
    Physical activity as preventive medicine for cancer-induced muscle wasting
    Role: Principal Investigator
  2. (Nicholas Greene) Apr 1, 2022 - Apr 1, 2023
    Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI) - Tobacco Settlement Award (UAF)
    PoWeR training as a non-pharmacological therapeutic approach in cancer-induced cachexia
    Role: Co-Investigator

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Bibliographic
selected publications
Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
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PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
  1. Delfinis LJ, Khajehzadehshoushtar S, Flewwelling LD, Andrews NJ, Garibotti MC, Gandhi S, Brahmbhatt AN, Morris BA, Garlisi B, Lauks S, Aitken C, Tsitkanou S, Simpson JA, Greene NP, Cheng AJ, Petrik J, Perry CGR. Mitochondrial-targeted plastoquinone therapy ameliorates early onset muscle weakness that precedes ovarian cancer cachexia in mice. bioRxiv. 2024 Oct 25. PMID: 39484418; PMCID: PMC11526977.
    Citations:
  2. Tsitkanou S, Morena da Silva F, Cabrera AR, Schrems ER, Muhyudin R, Koopmans PJ, Khadgi S, Lim S, Delfinis LJ, Washington TA, Murach KA, Perry CGR, Greene NP. Mitochondrial antioxidant SkQ1 attenuates C26 cancer-induced muscle wasting in males and improves muscle contractility in female tumor-bearing mice. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2024 Nov 01; 327(5):C1308-C1322. PMID: 39344417; PMCID: PMC11559642.
    Citations:
    Fields: CelCell BiologyPhyPhysiologyTranslation:AnimalsCells
  3. Tsitkanou S, Lindsay A, Abbott G, Foletta V, Walker AK, Russell AP, Della Gatta PA. Exercise training induces mild skeletal muscle adaptations without altering disease progression in a TDP-43 mouse model. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2024 Sep 01; 137(3):728-745. PMID: 39008617.
    Citations:
    Fields: PhyPhysiologyTranslation:Animals
  4. Tsitkanou S, Morena da Silva F, Cabrera AR, Schrems ER, Murach KA, Washington TA, Rosa-Caldwell ME, Greene NP. Biological sex divergence in transcriptomic profiles during the onset of hindlimb unloading-induced atrophy. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2023 11 01; 325(5):C1276-C1293. PMID: 37746697; PMCID: PMC10861149.
    Citations:
    Fields: CelCell BiologyPhyPhysiologyTranslation:HumansAnimalsCells
  5. Cabrera AR, Deaver JW, Lim S, Morena da Silva F, Schrems ER, Saling LW, Tsitkanou S, Rosa-Caldwell ME, Wiggs MP, Washington TA, Greene NP. Females display relatively preserved muscle quality compared with males during the onset and early stages of C26-induced cancer cachexia. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2023 09 01; 135(3):655-672. PMID: 37535708; PMCID: PMC10642509.
    Citations: 6
    Fields: PhyPhysiologyTranslation:AnimalsCells
  6. Delfinis LJ, Bellissimo CA, Gandhi S, DiBenedetto SN, Garibotti MC, Thuhan AK, Tsitkanou S, Rosa-Caldwell ME, Rahman FA, Cheng AJ, Wiggs MP, Schlattner U, Quadrilatero J, Greene NP, Perry CG. Muscle weakness precedes atrophy during cancer cachexia and is linked to muscle-specific mitochondrial stress. JCI Insight. 2022 12 22; 7(24). PMID: 36346680; PMCID: PMC9869968.
    Citations: 9
    Fields: MedMedicine (General)Translation:Animals
  7. Spiliopoulou P, Methenitis S, Zaras N, Stasinaki A-N, Krekoukia M, Tsitkanou S, Terzis G. Vastus Lateralis and Vastus Intermedius as Predictors of Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Hypertrophy after Strength Training. Applied Sciences. 2022; 12(18):9133.
  8. Tsitkanou S, Murach KA, Washington TA, Greene NP. Exercise Counteracts the Deleterious Effects of Cancer Cachexia. Cancers (Basel). 2022 May 19; 14(10). PMID: 35626116; PMCID: PMC9139714.
    Citations: 10
  9. Tsitkanou S, Della Gatta PA, Abbott G, Wallace MA, Lindsay A, Gerlinger-Romero F, Walker AK, Foletta VC, Russell AP. miR-23a suppression accelerates functional decline in the rNLS8 mouse model of TDP-43 proteinopathy. Neurobiol Dis. 2022 01; 162:105559. PMID: 34774794.
    Citations: 3
    Fields: NeuNeurologyTranslation:HumansAnimals
  10. Tsitkanou S, Lindsay A, Della Gatta P. The role of skeletal muscle in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a 'dying-back' or 'dying-forward' phenomenon? J Physiol. 2019 12; 597(23):5527-5528. PMID: 31605390.
    Citations: 7
    Fields: PhyPhysiologyTranslation:AnimalsCells
  11. Tsitkanou S, Della Gatta P, Foletta V, Russell A. The Role of Exercise as a Non-pharmacological Therapeutic Approach for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Beneficial or Detrimental? Front Neurol. 2019; 10:783. PMID: 31379732; PMCID: PMC6652799.
    Citations: 30
  12. Stasinaki, A-N., Zaras, N., Methenitis, S., Tsitkanou, S., Krase, A., Kavvoura, A., Terzis, G. Triceps brachii muscle strength and architectural adaptations with resistance training exercises at short or long fascicle length. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. 2018; 3(2):28.
  13. Tsitkanou S, Spengos K, Stasinaki AN, Zaras N, Bogdanis G, Papadimas G, Terzis G. Effects of high-intensity interval cycling performed after resistance training on muscle strength and hypertrophy. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2017 Nov; 27(11):1317-1327. PMID: 27659479.
    Citations: 32
    Fields: SpoSports MedicineTranslation:HumansCells
  14. Tsitkanou S, Della Gatta PA, Russell AP. Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells, Mitochondria, and MicroRNAs: Their Involvement in the Pathogenesis of ALS. Front Physiol. 2016; 7:403. PMID: 27679581; PMCID: PMC5020084.
    Citations: 32
  15. Siasos G, Athanasiou D, Terzis G, Stasinaki A, Oikonomou E, Tsitkanou S, Dimitropoulos S, Kolokytha T, Tzirogiannis K, Giannaki A, Tousoulis D. The Acute Impact of Different Types of Aerobic Exercise on Arterial Wave Reflections and Inflammation. Cardiology. 2016; 135(2):81-6. PMID: 27287855.
    Citations: 2
    Fields: CarCardiologyTranslation:Humans
  16. Siasos G, Athanasiou D, Terzis G, Stasinaki A, Oikonomou E, Tsitkanou S, Kolokytha T, Spengos K, Papavassiliou AG, Tousoulis D. Acute effects of different types of aerobic exercise on endothelial function and arterial stiffness. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2016 09; 23(14):1565-72. PMID: 27121699.
    Citations: 34
    Fields: CarCardiologyVasVascular DiseasesTranslation:Humans
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Funded by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through its Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, grant number UL1TR002541.