World-class epidemiologist on Greek coronavirus A-team studies challenges, possible second wave
By George Gilson
During Greece's decade-long economic depression in which 25 percent of GDP was lost and the harsh austerity imposed by creditors broke the back of society, much was written about the biggest collateral damage wrought by the financial crisis.
The resulting brain drain led about 500,000 mostly young and educated Greeks to emigrate, a large percentage of which are expected to remain abroad even after economic normalcy returns at some as yet undetermined point in the future.
The mass exodus included thousands of well-trained doctors and medical professionals who found their niche in European and other countries where they landed well-paid jobs and gained recognition, something that Greece because of a variety of reasons never offered its doctors and scientists even long before the country's economic collapse.
In this bleak terrain there have been bright exceptions albeit few who went against the tide to return to their homeland to continue their professional work and research and contribute to their country's long and arduous road to reconstruction.
One such is Athens University Assistant Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology Gkikas Magiorkinis.
Along with his post as a researcher and lecturer at Oxford (2012-2017) Magiorkinis gained international acclaim for his groundbreaking work on the evolutionary rate and global spread of Hepatitis C (which affects 130-180mn people worldwide) and is well known for his work on the spread of HIV as well.
His most important accomplishments are in the fields of the global epidemiology of and history of viruses, viral transmission and policy in drug users, and endogenous retroviruses. A stellar ten-page CV is packed with the top prizes in his field (including the European...
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