Dr. Gianoukakis is the newest member of our group; he joined the Internal Medicine faculty in 2002. His special interest focuses on autoimmune thyroid disease and thyroid cancer. His research concerns the pathogenesis of Graves' disease. Dr. Gianoukakis has developed a primary thyroid epithelial cell culture model and has used this to identify important mediators of the inflammatory responses seen in Graves' disease. The clinical significance of these findings is currently being examined in a clinical research study. The ultimate goal for this line of investigation is to identify molecular targets through which the disease process can be interrupted, as well as clinically useful markers of disease activity.