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    Colloquium: Implementing an One Health Research Strategy – The Case for Cyprus

    Event Details:

    • Date:           Tuesday, 12 July 2022
    • Time:          Starts: 16:00
    • Venue:        This is a hybrid event. You can attend in person at the Novel Technologies Laboratory, Events Room - First Floor, The Cyprus Institute,
                          or alternatively you can watch online at The Cyprus Institute YouTube live stream and Facebook event page.
    • Speaker:     Professor Stavros Malas, University of Nicosia Medical School

     

    Limited seating will be available. RSVP by Monday 11 July 2022 at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

     

    Abstract

    One Health describes a multidisciplinary approach “working locally, nationally, and globally, to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment”. The health of humans is intricately linked with the health of animals and the health of both is affected by the health of the environment. The latter is changing rapidly, particularly in countries described as hot-spots of climate change, like Cyprus. Holistic One Health policies are beginning to emerge in only very few countries. Cyprus is in great need for such a policy for various reasons:
    • It has a relatively large number of farm animals housed in suboptimal conditions.
    • Virtually no research is carried out in assessing the risk of zoonotic diseases.
    • The overuse of antibiotics is likely to lead to the development of new microbial strains.
    • Most farm animals are located in unfavourable climatic conditions, posing a significant health risk on the animals and the humans working with them.
    • Farm animal product quality and quantity is also affected, thus having and economic impact on the island’s economy.
    • Food safety is also an issue when employing suboptimal farming practises.
    Prof. Malas will present some global efforts to develop an One Health strategy and use the case of Cyprus to highlight the need for a establishing a national research task force which will focus on specific research projects with the view of becoming a policy driver for change.

     

    About the Speaker

    Stavros MalasStavros Malas is Professor of Genetics and Development at the University of Nicosia Medical School and the Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine. He holds a BSc and PhD in Genetics from University College London. Subsequent to his studies, he joined the Medical Research Council of the UK and worked at the Clinical Sciences Centre (part of Imperial College) until 2001.

    He then moved to the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics and established a research group working on embryonic brain development. He has expertise in developing animal models, embryo manipulation, stem cell biology and molecular genetics. His research focuses on the progression of stem cells to the progenitor state in the embryonic brain. His work uncovered new neuron populations in the spinal cord in mice and provided novel insights as to the role of specific genes in the developing brain. He has also developed collaborative projects on mutation identification for selected genetic eye diseases and also works with clinicians in studying the therapeutic role of Omega-3/6 on degenerative eye diseases.

    In 2006 he received an honorary award from the Research Promotion Foundation for best performance in attracting competitive funding from the European Commission (EC) in the area of Health. Over the last twenty years he has undertaken many advisory roles in policy development at the EC level. He served as special Advisor to Commissioner for Health in 2009 on the development of European Reference Centres and European Reference Networks for the treatment of rare diseases. At the same period, he was elected as the first President of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) States Representatives Group (SRG). He was also a member of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and a member of the Working Group for Biomedical Research of ESFRI. He served as member of the Program Committee for Health in the EC and led the European project which developed a strategy for Innovative Health care provision for the European Union entitled: “Building an Open Innovation ecosystem in Europe for healthcare”.

    Professor Malas served as Minister of Health of the Republic of Cyprus. During the Cyprus Presidency of the European Union in 2012, in addition to charing the European Council of Minsters for Health, he also chaired the Competitiveness Council and was the driving force behind the adoption of the “Widening participation and spreading excellence” program from which Cyprus benefitted so much through acquiring many Teaming Projects. Over the last four years, he developed a new Program for Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nicosia, under the new concept of One Health and is leading the efforts to develop a new ethos of One Health policy in Cyprus.

     

     

    The colloquium will be in English and the live stream is open to the public. You are welcome to attend the reception after the event.
    This is a hybrid event. You can attend in-person or attend online - live streaming of the discussion will be available at The Cyprus Institute YouTube live stream and Facebook event page.
    Images and/or recordings of our open public events may be used by The Cyprus Institute for dissemination purposes including print and digital media such as websites, press-releases, social media, and live streaming.

     

     


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    Additional Info

    • Date: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
    • Time: Starts: 16:00
    • Speaker: Professor Stavros Malas, University of Nicosia Medical School

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