Leontios G. Kostrikis is Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Cyprus and Head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology. He received his B.Sc. (1987), M.Sc. (1989), M.Phil. (1990) and Ph.D. (1993) degrees from New York University (NYU), USA. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center of The Rockefeller University, USA.
In 1999, he joined The Rockefeller University as an Assistant Professor. In 2003, he returned to Cyprus to take up a Professorship in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cyprus.
Professor Kostrikis was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for his undergraduate studies in the United States and has received research awards from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Aaron Diamond Foundation, and the Patti Cadby Birch Trust. In 2005, he received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the J. William Fulbright Commission in recognition of achievements that have contributed to making the world a better place. He was one of only forty Fulbright alumni selected from more than 250,000 recipients representing 140 countries since the establishment of the Fulbright Program in 1946.
He serves as a member of the editorial boards or as Associate Editor of fourteen leading international scientific journals. He has also served on numerous international review panels responsible for evaluating research grants and scientific awards.
Professor Kostrikis is a co-founder of the European Society for Antiviral Research (ESAR), the founder of the long-running Cyprus HIV-1 Transmission Cohort Study, and a scientific member of the WHO–UNAIDS Network for HIV Isolation and Characterisation.
For more than three decades, Professor Kostrikis has made major contributions to research on the role of human genetics in HIV-1 transmission and AIDS disease progression, as well as to the global molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 infection. He is internationally recognised as one of the pioneers and leading authorities in the field of human genetic determinants of HIV-1 transmission and AIDS progression.
In parallel with these research activities, Professor Kostrikis is leading the development of an innovative vaccine aimed at preventing HIV-1 transmission.
