Thomas Tzelos
(DVM, MSc, Ph.D., MRCVS)Job Title:
Deputy Head of Bioservices
Staff ORCID ID:
0000-0001-6908-2807
Contact Email:
thomas.tzelos@moredun.ac.uk
Contact Number:
0131 4455 111
Address:
The Moredun Group,
Pentlands Science Park,
Bush Loan,
Penicuik,
Midlothian,
EH26 0PZ
Job Role
As Deputy Head of Bioservices at the Moredun Group, Thomas plays a key role in supporting the strategic and operational delivery of the Bioservices department, ensuring our teams, infrastructure, and animal resources enable world-class, welfare-led research.
Thomas also provides comprehensive veterinary medical and surgical support to the Moredun Group. His work ensures the highest standards of animal health, welfare, and regulatory compliance.
Biography
Dr. Thomas Tzelos is a veterinarian with a strong interest in translating scientific research into practical advances in animal health. As Deputy Head of the Bioservices Department at the Moredun Research Institute, he supports the strategic and operational delivery of the department, helping ensure that teams, facilities, and animal resources enable high-quality, welfare-led research, particularly in support of livestock infectious disease research. He also provides comprehensive veterinary medical and surgical care across the Moredun Group, ensuring the highest standards of animal health, welfare, and regulatory compliance.
Thomas holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare, and a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from the University of Edinburgh.
His work spans veterinary science, research, and innovation. At the Moredun Research Institute, he contributed to the development and validation of a diagnostic test for detecting encysted cyathostomins in horses, which has been commercially available since 2017. He later joined the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh as a Research Fellow, where he worked in veterinary developmental biology and immunology on BBSRC-funded projects. His expertise includes vaccine development in livestock and approaches such as reverse vaccinology.
In addition to his research work, Thomas is an experienced science communicator. He has appeared as a parasitology expert on Vet Essentials – Worming for Horse & Country TV and has also worked as script editor and director of the short animated film War of the Worms.
Current Research
Thomas’s current research activities include:
1. Leading a project funded by the Hannah Dairy Research Foundation to develop a diagnostic test for the early detection of Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC).
2. Contributing to a collaborative project developing equine intestinal organoids for the study of gastrointestinal parasites.
3. Securing an Innovative Knowledge Exchange grant to design and produce a card game that promotes public engagement and knowledge exchange in an accessible and memorable way.
You can see a list of Thomas’s publications here.
Selected Publications
- Tzelos, T.,
- Geyer, K.G.,
- Mitchell, M.C.,
- McWilliam H.E.G.,
- Kharchenko, V.O.,
- Burgess, S.T.G.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
- Tzelos, T.,
- Barbeito, J.S.G.,
- Nielsen, M.K.,
- Morgan, E.R.,
- Hodgkinson, J.E.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
- Tzelos, T.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
- Buck, A.H.,
- Simbari, F.,
- Frew, D.,
- Inglis, N.F.,
- McLean, K.,
- Nisbet, A.J.,
- Whitelaw, C.B.A.,
- Knox, D.P.,
- McNeilly, T.N.,
- Vasoya, D.,
- Tzelos, T.,
- Benedictus, L.,
- Karagianni, A.E.,
- Pirie, S.,
- Marr, C.,
- Oddsdottir, C.,
- Fintl, C.,
- Connelley, T.,
- Tzelos, T.,
- Morgan, E.R.,
- Easton, S.,
- Hodgkinson, J.E.,
- Matthews, J.B.,
