NIHR Intermediate Fellow and Honorary Consultant Surgeon

Affiliations: Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (Tissue Typing) Addenbrooke’s Hospital

Research interests

Our research primarily focuses on understanding how the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of histocompatibility proteins (called Human Leukocyte Antigens or HLA) expressed on donor organs stimulate immune responses in transplant recipients that lead to organ rejection. We are particularly interested in the role of alloantibodies directed against donor HLA and how they induce acute and chronic organ injury that ultimately leads to graft loss. We use biochemical, biophysical and structural techniques to study HLA molecules and their interaction with alloantibodies and, using this information, we aim to improve donor-recipient histocompatibility, minimise the detrimental effect of alloantibodies in solid-organ transplantation and improve access to transplantation.

As a surgeon, I am focused on kidney, pancreas and liver transplantation and I am particularly interested in identifying factors that influence clinical outcomes after transplantation and in applying technological innovations, such as machine perfusion, to assess the quality of donor organs and improve their function after transplantation.

My research programme is focused on the following themes:

• Immunogenicity of donor HLA molecules
• Improving donor-recipient histocompatibility in solid organ and haematopoietic cell transplantation
• HLA-alloantibody interactions and alloantibody mediated graft injury
• Liver normothermic machine perfusion

Key publications

(since 2014; full publication list here)

Watson CJ, Kosmoliaptsis V, Randle LV, Gimson AE, Brais R, Klinck JR, Hamed M, Tsyben A, Butler AJ (2017) Normothermic perfusion in the assessment and preservation of declined livers prior to transplantation: hyperoxia and vasoplegia – important lessons from the first 12 cases. Transplantation. Jan 25. doi: 10.1097

Mah TJ, Mallon DH, Brewster O, Saeb-Parsy K, Butler AJ, Bradley JA, Kosmoliaptsis V (2017) Ureteric complications in recipients of kidneys from donation after circulatory death donors. Clin Transplant.  Apr 31. doi: 10.1111

Kosmoliaptsis V, Mallon DH, Chen Y, Bolton EM, Bradley JA, Taylor CJ (2016) Alloantibody responses after renal transplant failure can be better predicted by donor-recipient HLA amino acid sequence and physicochemical disparities than conventional HLA matching. Am J Transplant.; 16: 2139-47

Taylor CJ, Kosmoliaptsis V, Martin J, Knighton G, Mallon D, Bradley JA, Peacock S (2016) Technical Limitations of the C1q Single-Antigen Bead Assay to Detect Complement Binding HLA-Specific Antibodies. Transplantation. Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print]

Glover TE, Watson CJ, Gibbs P, Bradley JA, Ntzani EE, Kosmoliaptsis V (2016) Conversion From Calcineurin to Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitors in Liver Transplantation: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Transplantation; 100: 621-9

Watson CJ, Kosmoliaptsis V, Randle LV, Russell NK, Griffiths WJ, Davies S, Mergental H, Butler AJ (2016)Preimplant Normothermic Liver Perfusion of a Suboptimal Liver Donated After Circulatory Death. Am J Transplant; 16: 353-7

Kosmoliaptsis V, Jöris MM, Mallon DH, Lankester AC, von dem Borne PA, Kuball J, et al. (2015)Physiochemical disparity of mismatched HLA class I alloantigens and risk of acute GVHD following HSCT. Bone Marrow Transplant 50: 540-4

Kosmoliaptsis V, Salji M, Bardsley V, Chen Y, Thiru S, Griffiths MH, Copley HC, Saeb-Parsy K, Bradley JA, Torpey N, Pettigrew GJ (2015) Baseline donor chronic renal injury confers the same transplant survival disadvantage for DCD and DBD kidneys. Am J Transplant 15: 754-63

Goyette P, Boucher G, Mallon D, Ellinghaus E,…, Carrington MN, Kosmoliaptsis V, Karlsen TH, Franke A, Rioux JD (2015) High-density mapping of the MHC identifies a shared role for HLA-DRB1*01:03 in inflammatory bowel diseases and heterozygous advantage in ulcerative colitis. Nat Genetics  47: 172-9

Mallon DH, Bradley JA, Winn PJ, Taylor CJ, Kosmoliaptsis V (2015) Three-dimensional structural modelling and calculation of electrostatic potentials of HLA Bw4 and Bw6 epitopes to explain the molecular basis for alloantibody binding: toward predicting HLA antigenicity and immunogenicity. Transplantation 2015; 99: 385-90

Kosmoliaptsis V, Gjorgjimajkoska O, Sharples LD, Chaudhry AN, Chatzizacharias N, Peacock S, Torpey N, Bolton EM, Taylor CJ, Bradley JA.(2014)  Impact of donor mismatches at individual HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR, and -DQ loci on the development of HLA-specific antibodies in patients listed for repeat renal transplantation. Kidney International 2014; 86: 1039-48

Mallon DH, Bradley JA, Taylor CJ, Kosmoliaptsis V (2014) Structural and electrostatic analysis of HLA B-cell epitopes: inference on immunogenicity and prediction of humoral alloresponses. Curr Opin Organ Transplant 2014; 19: 420-7