Konstantinos Voskarides

Konstantinos Voskarides is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Nicosia Medical School and School of Veterinary Medicine. He holds a BSc in Biology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) and a PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Cyprus. His research focuses on evolutionary medicine, medical genetics, and the genetic origins of human populations. He has pioneered studies on the genetic basis of familial kidney diseases and established Cyprus’s first Biobank and zebrafish research facility in 2015. Dr. Voskarides explores links between evolutionary adaptations and modern diseases, including cancer, autoimmune conditions, and psychiatric disorders.

His research interests include comparative and evolutionary genetics of cancer genes, genetic epidemiology of autoimmune diseases, and the role of microRNAs in human adaptation. He has authored 68 articles (h-index 27) and edited Genomic Elements in Health, Disease and Evolution (Springer, 2015). Notable contributions include discovering evolutionary trade-offs between cancer susceptibility and cold adaptation, and identifying shared genetic haplotypes between autoimmune and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Voskarides currently serves as Senior Editor at BMC Medical Genomics and Journal of Molecular Evolution. His work on the genetic origins of Greek-Cypriots and the evolutionary dynamics of immunity genes has been widely cited. He has investigated the molecular basis of renal diseases, including COL4A3/A4 mutations and CFHR5 nephropathy, and their progression mechanisms.

His research integrates evolutionary principles with modern genomic techniques, emphasizing translational applications. He collaborates on projects exploring stress responses in zebrafish models and the impact of environmental factors like cold on cancer biology. Key themes include understanding how ancestral genetic adaptations influence modern disease susceptibility.