Kyriacos A. Athanasiou

Kyriacos A. Athanasiou (Greek: Κυριάκος Αθανασίου) is a bioengineer who has contributed significantly to both academic advancements as well as high-technology industries. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Davis where he also served as the Chair of the Biomedical Engineering department. Before joining the University of California in 2009, he was the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor at Rice University. He has published hundreds of scientific articles detailing structure-function relationships and tissue engineering approaches for articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the temporomandibular joint.

Athanasiou was born in Larnaca, Cyprus in 1960. He went to Sotir Elementary School and St. George High School. In 1978, he graduated valedictorian from high school and then joined the army for 26 months as part of his mandatory military duty. During that time, he trained at an infantry cadet school eventually becoming a second lieutenant. In August 1980, he came to the United States to attend college. He spent his first year at Brescia College in Owensboro, Kentucky. He then moved with relatives in Long Island, New York.

Athanasiou received his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from New York Institute of Technology at Old Westbury in 1984. He obtained his master's degree from Columbia University in 1985, his Masters of Philosophy from Columbia University in 1987, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Columbia University in 1989.

Kyriacos Athanasiou has established one of the most recognized research groups in bioengineering, specializing in the cartilages of the musculoskeletal system. Upon obtaining his Ph.D. in early 1989, Athanasiou became an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He became an associate professor in 1994. He was recruited to Rice University as a full professor of bioengineering at the end of 1999. His group has worked extensively on cartilages of the musculoskeletal system both in terms of characterization but also in efforts to achieve healing or repair of the clinically complex problems of cartilage afflictions, including trauma and osteoarthritis.

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