Costas A. Christophi

Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department Chair

Associate Professor Costas Christophi is a Biostatistician. His research group has worked on obesity and diabetes; smoking and health; and several other important topics in Public Health. He is an Associate Professor at CUT and holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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Working with collaborators from Harvard University (including Professors David Christiani, Stefanos Kales and Christos Mantzoros) and from the Cyprus Ministry of Defense, his group initiated an epidemiological investigation of the health of young Cypriot males who were serving in the Cypriot armed forces. Their intent was to study the relationships between genetics, environment, metabolism and obesity in these young recruits. The team found that, when they joined the army, almost one third of these young men were either overweight or obese. Two years later when they left the army, their obesity had increased and their cardiovascular health had deteriorated.

In a series of manuscripts, working with Prof. Kales at Harvard University and other colleagues, the team explored the roles of obesity, physical activity and measures of cardiorespiratory fitness as predictors of metabolic syndrome (i.e., diabetes) and cardiovascular disease risk among firefighters and other emergency workers.

Professor Christophi’s research group has also been involved in several studies of tobacco smoking habits and determinants in Cyprus. In this research, through our association with Harvard, they have benefitted from the guidance and direct involvement of Professor Greg Connolly, a world-recognized authority on smoking and health. One study, conducted in close collaboration with Cyprus’ Ministries of Health and Education, collected data on smoking behavior, knowledge and attitudes of Cypriot youth. This investigation found that almost 40% of high school boys and about 25% of girls smoke. The levels of smoking among girls are quite high and suggest that levels of smoking among women in Cyprus are rising dramatically. Also troubling was the finding that almost one quarter of students who did not smoke indicated that they were likely to start smoking within the next year.

Most recently, in a collaboration involving CII, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait, Prof. Christophi’s group is contributing to the development and analysis of data from a large pregnancy-birth cohort study intended to examine the effect of in utero and early life environmental exposures to the subsequent development of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

His group’s publication record is impressive, with articles in journals as prestigious as the New England Journal of Medicine (impact factor = 55).

Research Areas

Biostatistics
Epidemiology
Smoking
Obesity
Diabetes

Qualifications

2004: PhD in Statistics

George Washington University, Statistics

Dissertation topic: Distances in Random Tries via Analytic Probability: the Oscillatory Distribution

1999: MSc in Statistics.

George Washington University, Statistics

1994: BSc in Business Administration

Boston University, Accounting

Employment

Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Cyprus University of Technology

Duration: 2016 – Current

Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Cyprus University of Technology

Duration: 2011 – 2016

Lecturer in Biostatistics

Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health in association with Harvard School of Public Health

Duration: 2005 – 2011

Awards

The Endocrine Society and Pfizer, Inc. International Award for Excellence in Published Clinical Research in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

The Endocrine Society and Pfizer, Inc

Duration: 2009

George Washington University Fellowship

George Washington University

Duration: 2003 – 2004

Minna Mirin Kullback Memorial Prize

George Washington University

Duration: 2000

Fulbright Cyprus-America Scholarship Program – Graduate

Fulbright

Duration: 1997 – 1999

Publications

Yang J, Farioli A, Baur D, Moffatt S, Zollinger T, Kales S, Christofi C (2019) Association between push-up exercise capacity and future cardiovascular events among active adult men. JAMA Network Open. 2, e1883 41.
Smith D, Haller J, Korre M, Sampani K, Porto L, Fehling P, Kales S, Christofi C (2019) The relation of emergency duties to cardiac death among US firefighters. American Journal of Cardiology. 123, 736 – 741.
Smith D, Haller J, Korre M, Fehling P, Sampani K, Porto L, Kales S, Christofi C (2018) Pathoanatomic findings associated with dutyrelated cardiac death in US firefighters: a case-control study. J Am Heart Assoc. 7, e0094 46.
Pampaka D, Papatheodorou S, AlSeaidan M, Wotayan R, Wright R, Buring J, Dockery D, Christofi C (2018) Postnatal depressive symptoms in women with and without antenatal depressive symptoms. Arch Women’s Ment Health. 22, 93-103.
Pampaka D, Papatheodorou S, AlSeaidan M, Wotayan R, Wright R, Buring J, Dockery D, Christofi C (2018) Depressive symptoms and comorbid problems in pregnancy - results from a population-based study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 112, 53-58.
Paisi M, Pampaka D, Kehagias M, Vardavas C, Connolly G, Christofi C (2013) The Impact of the Cyprus Comprehensive Smoking Ban on Air Quality and Economic Business of Hospitality Venues. BMC Public Health. 13,76.
Hamnvik OP, Liu X, Petrou M, Gong H, Chamberland J, Kim E, Kales S, Christiani D, Mantzoros C, Christofi C (2011) Soluble Leptin Receptor and Leptin are Associated with Baseline Adiposity and Metabolic Risk Factors, and Predict Adiposity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Glucose Levels at 2-year Follow-up: the Cyprus Metabolism Prospective Cohort Study. Metabolism. 60, 987-993.
Knowler W, Fowler S, Hamman R, Hoffman H, Brenneman A, Brown J, Goldberg R, Venditti E, Nathan D, Christofi C (2009) 10-Year Follow-up of Diabetes Incidence and Weight Loss in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. The Lancet. 374, 1677- 1686
Omland T, de Lemos J, Sabatine M, Rice M, Jablonski K, Tjora S, Domanski M, Gersh B, Rouleau J, Pfeffer M, Braunwald E, Christofi C (2009) Very Low Cardiac Troponin T Concentrations and Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease: The PEACE Trial. The New England Journal of Medicine. 361, 2538- 2547.
Kales S, Soteriades E, Christiani D, Christofi C (2007) Emergency Duties and Deaths from Heart Disease Among Firefighters in the Unites States. The New England Journal of Medicine. 356, 1207- 1215.

Teaching

Research Methods and Biostatistics

Biostatistics for Public Health

Advanced Topics in Biostatistics

Research Methodology

Consulting Services

Founding member and Vice-Chair of the Board

Cyprus Statistical Society

Duration: 2017 – Current

Member

National Committee for Tobacco Control

Duration: 2012 – Current

Expert

Global Burden of Disease (GBD)

Duration: 2013 – Current

Chair

Data Safety Monitoring Board

Duration: 2012 – 2014

Researcher - Cancer Cluster Investigation

Ministry of Health

Duration: 2008

Costas A. Christophi

Τεχνολογικό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου

Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department Chair

Professor Christophi’s research group has also been involved in several studies of tobacco smoking habits and determinants in Cyprus. In this research, through our association with Harvard, they have benefitted from the guidance and direct involvement of Professor Greg Connolly, a world-recognized authority on smoking and health. One study, conducted in close collaboration with Cyprus’ Ministries of Health and Education, collected data on smoking behavior, knowledge and attitudes of Cypriot youth. This investigation found that almost 40% of high school boys and about 25% of girls smoke. The levels of smoking among girls are quite high and suggest that levels of smoking among women in Cyprus are rising dramatically. Also troubling was the finding that almost one quarter of students who did not smoke indicated that they were likely to start smoking within the next year.

Most recently, in a collaboration involving CII, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait, Prof. Christophi’s group is contributing to the development and analysis of data from a large pregnancy-birth cohort study intended to examine the effect of in utero and early life environmental exposures to the subsequent development of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

His group’s publication record is impressive, with articles in journals as prestigious as the New England Journal of Medicine (impact factor = 55).

Κύπρος

costas.christophi@cut.ac.cy

25 002393

Costas A. Christophi

Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department Chair

costas.christophi@cut.ac.cy

25 002393

CV

Research Areas

Qualifications

Employment

Awards

Publications

Teaching

Consulting Services

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