Meet the Greek Scientist From Galaxidi – The New Director of the MUHC Research Institute
For years the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) has searched to find a permanent head for Quebec’s most significant research institute, the Research Institute of the MUHC (RI-MUHC).
After nearly a four year search beyond international boards, the chase is over. In a press release dated December 23, 2019, the Board of Directors of both the MUHC and RI-MUHC confirmed the appointment of Dr. Constantine Stratakis to the positions of “Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the RI-MUHC and Director of Research of the MUHC, effective June.”
A renowned and dedicated clinician, scientist, professor and administrator, Dr. Stratakis did predoctoral work in Athens and Paris, France, before joining the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Bethesda, Maryland. Where he is currently the Scientific Director of both centres.
Mr. Stratakis is the head of the research team that led to discovery of a gene associated with excessive growth of children, known as gigantism, a rare condition in children.
Coming from Lasithi, Crete and Galaxidi, Fokida, he belongs to a first generation of Greek-American and grew up in Athens. One thing he is emphasising is that he is deeply influenced by his Cretan and Roumeli roots: “I spent all my summers as a child in Galaxidi and I still visit our summer house in the summer.”
In his own words…
“I was born and raised in Greece. Having finished Medical School and after a short stay in France, I came to America. I did my postdoctoral training and after that I did my medical practice in Pediatrics, Endocrinology and Genetics. “
On the idea of decrypting diseases:
“In the ’90s, when the human genome program started, I had the idea of using the program’s tools for disease research in Pediatrics and Endocrinology, two fields of clinical medicine I knew better, in order to find the causes of these diseases; the genes that cause them.”
On goals ( NICHD-NIH) :
“The Institute was created with the idea that it will welcome patients from around the world. Patients will be in hospital beds, right next to laboratories and physicians that will simultaneously run labs and work with scientists to identify what causes their disease and quickly find the treatment. I couldn’t I be happier anywhere else.”
On what the future holds:
“I have many unanswered questions. I have a list of diseases whose genes I have not identified yet. I hope that in the years to come I will find the answers to most of these questions.”