Costas A. Christophi
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.
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).
- Biostatistics
- Epidemiology
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Diabetes
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
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
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
- 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.
- Research Methods and Biostatistics
- Biostatistics for Public Health
- Advanced Topics in Biostatistics
- Research Methodology
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
