ATHENS — Officials at Yale and the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in Greece have embarked on a partnership agreement to pursue the development of a center for excellence for environmental sciences and public health. The collaboration will engage research groups in both universities to work collaboratively to address the effects on humans and the ecosystem of hazardous agents including environmental pathogens.

The integration of science, engineering, and policy to solve complex problems in environmental health will be a signature element of the proposed collaboration. Faculty development programs are envisioned to explore collaborative research projects, training and mentoring activities. Exchanges of students at the graduate and postgraduate level and joint conferences and workshops between the two institutions will also be explored.

Yale’s Vice President for Global Strategy, Pericles Lewis remarked: “I am delighted that we have formalized this new partnership agreement between Yale and NKUA. Together, our researchers will have the opportunity to contribute to global solutions to today’s most pressing environmental and public health challenges. Our collaboration with NKUA is an example of how we are fostering new avenues of research that carry the potential to benefit communities around the world.”

The Rector of NKUA, Meletios Dimopoulos, MD stated: “The protection of the environment is becoming one of the most important tasks of states and societies; the role of academic institutions is to enhance research on this topic so that innovative measures can be implemented. The collaboration of our Institution with Yale through this new center of excellence is aiming to fulfil this goal.”

This newly signed partnership agreement between Yale and NKUA will expand existing collaborations in these areas of research that both parties have developed with several other universities around the globe. Principal collaborators on the project are Vasilis Vasiliou, the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Science at the Yale School of Public Health, and Nikolaos Thomaidis, professor of Analytical Chemistry and coordinator of Research Infrastructure and Core Facilities at NKUA.

According to Vasiliou, the partnership agreement will greatly enhance both research and training efforts for counteracting global public health threats. He remarked: “As public health threats are increasing it is important that we develop global approaches to maintain and improve public health for everyone.” Thomaidis also commented on the partnership, saying “a long-term and productive scientific collaboration with Professor Vasiliou’s group at the School of Public Health resulted in the idea of developing this Center of Excellence. We anticipate the Center will strengthen our partnership with Yale and demonstrates how fruitful and close research collaborations can expand our efforts to address issues that impact everyone, independent of their country.”