Theo Mantamadiotis

Associate Professor Theo Mantamadiotis is an esteemed researcher in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, serving as Laboratory Head in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology within the School of Biomedical Sciences. With a PhD in Biomedical Science, he completed postdoctoral training as a scientist at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Germany and as a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Patras in Greece. He transitioned to the University of Melbourne's Department of Pathology before joining the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 2018. His research centers on the molecular and cellular biology of brain cancer, with a particular emphasis on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The Mantamadiotis laboratory investigates transcriptional and signalling networks critical to neuronal development, neural stem cells, and brain tumour cells, utilizing novel animal models of human nervous system pathology. Advanced methodologies, including massively parallel sequencing and next-generation sequencing for gene expression profiling of glioma cells, are employed to uncover molecular signatures, biomarkers, novel tumour development mechanisms, and drug targets. Central themes include the aberrant activation of PI3K, MAPK, and cAMP signalling pathways in GBM, where PI3K mutations in neural stem/progenitor cells promote glioma-like tumours, and CREB functions as a key transcriptional regulator of tumour growth. The lab also explores cAMP pathway modulation using approved drugs to induce apoptosis in glioma cells and examines immunobiology for brain tumour-targeted immunotherapy.

Mantamadiotis's investigations extend to the brain tumour microenvironment, elucidating cooperation between cancer cells and immune cells, tumour-specific immunosuppression, and strategies for immune system modulation to achieve long-term brain tumour control. His group develops genetically engineered mouse models mimicking human brain tumour progression to evaluate novel therapies, integrating state-of-the-art microscopy, computational biology, spatial biology, genomics, and proteomics. His scholarly impact is reflected in over 5,900 Google Scholar citations. Notable publications include 'Towards Targeting PI3K-Dependent Regulation of Gene Expression in Brain Cancer' (Cancers, 2017), 'Sensitivity of GBM Cells to cAMP Agonist-Mediated Apoptosis Correlates with CD44 Expression and Agonist Resistance with MAPK Signaling' (Cell Death & Disease, 2016), 'PI3K Activation in Neural Stem Cells Drives Tumorigenesis which can be Ameliorated by Targeting the cAMP Response Element Binding (CREB) Protein' (Neuro-Oncology, 2018), 'Expression of CD133 and CD44 in Glioblastoma Stem Cells Correlates with Glioblastoma Cell Proliferation, Phenotype Stability and Intra-Tumor Heterogeneity' (PLoS One, 2017), and 'Multi-omic and Spatial Analysis Reveals Tumour-Derived Paracrine Signals Drive Suppressive Macrophage Polarisation via Activation of the cAMP-CREB Axis in Glioblastoma' (bioRxiv, 2026). As Section Editor for Carcinogenesis (Oxford University Press) in Inflammation, Tumor Microenvironment, and Cancer Immunology, he contributes to advancing the field through peer review and editorial oversight.

Professional Email: theo.mantamadiotis@unimelb.edu.au