Kyriacos Kyriacou

Prof. Kyriacos Kyriacou (male) is the Founder and Head of the Department of Electron Microscopy/Molecular Pathology, and Professor, and Dean of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine. Professor Kyriacou obtained his BSc Honours degree, in Biochemistry/Physiology, from the University of London in 1977, and his PhD from the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Oral Pathology, King’s College Schools of Medicine and Dentistry in 1982. In 1983 he was appointed Lecturer in Biochemistry, in the Medical School at King’s College Hospital, London. In 1991 he became a Senior Scientist, at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING). His main research interests include the genetic epidemiology and molecular pathology of cancer, with emphasis on breast cancer genetics. He was instrumental in characterising the spectrum of mutations in the BRCA genes in Cypriot families and also obtained substantial funding, towards the establishment of the first Electron microscope department in Cyprus. His group has carried out the largest epidemiological study on breast cancer in Cyprus, acronym “MASTOS” and has identified factors which lower the risk of breast cancer in Cypriot women such as the Mediterranean diet. Through this research unique mutations were also identified in Cypriot families, in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and these results led to the establishment of an important cancer genetics service for the whole Cyprus population. Recently he has obtained major funding for Establishing the first and only Translational Facility consisting of Genomics and Proteomics platforms at CING. He has graduated five PhDs and twenty-five MSc students and is currently supervising another 7 postgraduate students. He is the co-ordinator of several research projects, has obtained more than 8,000,000 euros in competitive funding and has published more than 120 articles, in peer reviewed journals. He represents Cyprus in several Societies and advisory committees in Europe. He was appointed by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation as the representative of Cyprus, in the EU-COST programme, in the BMBS (Biomedicine and Biomolecular Sciences) domain. He is an active member of the Electron Microscopy working group which is part of the European Society of Pathology and has served as a Consultant of ESMO on Genetic Educational Courses. He serves as a reviewer for several scientific journals and research funding bodies. Professor Kyriacou has organized several scientific conferences, at both National and International levels and has been invited to deliver many lectures both locally and at International Conferences.