Miltos Tsiantis is a biologist who studies plant development and diversity, with a focus on leaf development. He has shown how species-specific differences in developmental gene expression shape diverse leaf forms and how such genes influence the amount, duration, and direction of cellular growth to create distinct leaf geometries. For these projects, he established Cardamine hirsuta - a relative of the widely used model organism Arabidopsis - as a new experimental system for comparative research in plant biology.
Miltos studied biology in Athens before obtaining his DPhil from the University of Oxford. He conducted postdoctoral research at Oxford, holding a number of research fellowships including a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, and spent some of that time on research visits to Berkeley. He became a University Lecturer (2003) and Professor of Plant Developmental Genetics in Oxford (2010), and was a Tutorial Fellow at Wadham College. Since 2013, he is a Director at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne. His honours include EMBO membership, EMBO Young Investigator, the Balfour Lecture of the Genetics Society, and the Society of Experimental Biology’s President’s Medal.
Miltos strives to create an inclusive and supportive environment in his lab where young scientists can realize their full potential.
Professional position
- Director, Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute For Plant Breeding Research, Max Planck Society
