Institutions NYU Known for Human Genome Project | Name Aristides Patrinos Institution New York University | |
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Nationality Greek Egyptian American Alma mater National Technical University of Athens Fields Genomics, Biological engineering, Structural biology, Climate change, Nuclear medicine | ||
Aristides Patrinos Top #10 Facts
Dr. Aristides Patrinos (Greek: Αριστείδης Πατρινός), was born in 1947 to parents of Greek ancestry in Alexandria, Egypt. After attending and graduating Greek and British schools, in 1965 he left Cairo and moved to Athens, Greece. He studied engineering, both electrical and mechanical, at the National Technical University of Athens. Upon receiving his degree in 1970, he moved to the U.S. and studied in Chicago, Illinois at Northwestern University. In 1975, after receiving his Ph.D, he moved to New York State and taught at the University of Rochester. From there he worked with the Department of Energy and their national laboratories in New York state and Tennessee, eventually settling in Washington D.C., where he joined the Department of Energy full time.
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In 1993 Dr. Patrinos succeeded David Galas as the Director of the “Office of Biological and Environmental Research” in the U.S. Department of Energy, where he then worked on the Human Genome Project. Leaving the Department of Energy in 2006, he joined Synthetic Genomics Inc. Having gained experience with a lead role in the Human Genome Project, Dr. Patrinos decided to launch the Genomes to Life Program as well as creating the DOE Joint Genome Institute. At DOE he was also involved in initiating the International Panel on Climate Change and the Global Change Research Program within the Department of energy. His work and research has defined many of the policies the United States employs with regard to these fields.
Dr. Patrinos is considered a leading authority on structural biology, genomics, global environmental change, and nuclear medicine. He currently directs research for Urban Sciences and Progress or the CUSP program, and is also a professor of biological, chemical, and mechanical engineering at New York University. He continues to be involved with Synthetic Genome and their projects that involve synthetic biology applications, and also serves on the Board of Directors of Tsakos Energy and Navigation (TNP). To this day he continues his work in Washington D.C. advocating solutions for sustainable global energy and environmental change.
He is married to Kathryn Hoff and they have two daughters, Thalia and Maritsa.
Awards
Dr. Patrinos has received two Secretary's Gold Honor awards from the Department of Energy, and three Presidential Rank Awards, and many honorary degrees.