Konstantinos C. Makris
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Health
Department of Environmental Health
Research
Dr. Makris’ research interests focus on Water and Human Health issues, such as, drinking-water quality, exposure assessment for metal/metalloid-impacted populations, fate and bioavailability of carcinogenic metalloids and organic xenobiotics in water and in the human gastrointestinal tract, and development of sustainable intervention measures for carcinogenic water contaminants, such as arsenic and hexavalent chromium, particularly for developing countries and small communities in developed countries.
Dr. Makris utilizes methodology and techniques towards the improved understanding of orally-ingested carcinogenic contaminants on the etiology and mitigation of carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic effects (diabetes type II, adverse pregnancy outcomes). Towards this goal, Dr. Makris collaborates with Harvard faculty specializing in environmental epidemiology, risk assessment, and microbiology to address Water & Health issues in different areas of the world, most notably in Cyprus, Greece and Bangladesh.
Under the auspices of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), Dr. Makris has recently started developing the Water and Health laboratory in the Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health. The ultimate goal of the Water & Health research program of Dr. Makris is to minimize the human health risk associated with chronic human oral ingestion of water contaminants. In specific, the main objectives of the Water & Health research program are to:
1. Determine the effects of aged urban water distribution systems and plastic (bisphenol-A, phthalates) containers on the quality of packaged water.
2. Evaluate the magnitude and variability of chronic exposure to carcinogenic arsenic and chromium in drinking water.
3. Develop sustainable intervention measures for toxic contaminants in water and soil systems.
4. Elucidate the chemical and microbial parameters that regulate the fate, bioavailability, and toxicity (speciation) of inorganic (arsenic, lead and chromium) and organic (endocrine disrupters) compounds in water systems.
During the past 6 years, Dr. Makris has published >40 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters dealing with the environmental chemistry, exposure potential / human gastrointestinal bioavailability of arsenic, and the development of intervention measures/ technologies for a number of inorganic (arsenic, and lead) and organic (veterinary antibiotics and explosive munitions residues) toxic contaminants. Dr. Makris and his colleagues utilized advanced instrumentation and methodologies for solution and particle surface speciation of toxic contaminants, such as, HPLC-ICP-MS, HPLC-ESI-MS/MS, and XANES/EXAFS. A patent on the removal of chromium from urban stormwater in under way with colleagues from the Univ. of Texas at San Antonio, while a proof-of-concept has been confirmed for a novel arsenic field test kit.
Education
Ph.D., 2004, University of Florida, USA
M.S., 2000, University of Kentucky, USA
B.S., 1998, Aristotle University, Greece