PANAGIOTIS BEHRAKIS

Panagiotis Behrakis is a leading global expert in Public Health-Tobacco Control and researcher in the field of respiratory physiology. In 2016, he founded the Institute of Public Health at the American College of Greece and is currently the Director. He is also the Director of the George D. Behrakis Research Lab of the Hellenic Cancer Society and a Principal Researcher at the Biomedical Research Foundation of Athens Academy. Prof. Behrakis has served as Associate Professor of Respiratory Physiology at the University of Athens Medical School from 1991 to 2012 and as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health of the School of Public Health at Harvard University from 2009 to 2014.

His numerous international distinctions include Member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), focal point of WHO (World Health Organization) for Tobacco Control in Greece and former editor of the journal Tobacco Prevention and Cessation.

In addition, he was the Project Coordinator of the Joint Action for Tobacco Control 1 funded by the European Commission. For the past ten years, he has been dedicated to tobacco prevention among youth in Greece. This has led to a series of activities, fully funded by the Behrakis Foundation in Boston, MA. These include student seminars on Tobacco Prevention, Panhellenic Annual Student Conferences and Student Competitions, Train-the-trainer workshops for teachers and the production of educational material addressed to both students and teachers.

Currently, under his leadership, the “George D. Behrakis” lab conducts research on emissions of tobacco products and their potential health effects. Prof. Behrakis is author to more than 150 full scientific papers published in international journals and has made more than 30 contributions to books or monographs with over 3000 citations.