Dr Karpouzas has a first degree in Agriculture – Crop Production from the Aristotle University of Thessaly, an MSc in Crop Protection and a PhD in microbial metabolism pesticides both awarded by the University of Reading. He is Professor in Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly and currently serves as a Director of the Laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology and a Deputy Head of Department. His main research focus is on studying the interactions of pesticides with soil microorganisms. In this frame particular focus is on (i) the microbial degradation of pesticides and the genetic mechanisms driving microbial adaptation for rapid pesticide biodegradation in soil, (ii) the isolation, characterization and biotechnological exploitation of pesticide-degrading microbes using system biology approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics), functional metagenomics and heterologous expression systems, (iii) the development and implementation of biopurification systems for the treatment of agro-industrial effluents, (iv) the assessment of the ecotoxicity of pesticides on soil microorganisms using advanced and standardized tools and (v) the study of basic processes controling the environmental fate of pesticides. He is the author of 108 articles in peer-reviewed journals (citations 1800, h-index 25), 2 chapters in books and an editor of a book. Dr Karpouzas is associate editor of the journals BIODEGRADATION and FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY and member of several scientific committees including the SETAC Pesticide Microbiology Group, the IUPAC Subcommittee on Crop Protection Chemistry, The National Committee on Plant Protection Products. He served as president of the Hellenic Scientific Society of Mikrobiokosmos in the period 2017-2019. He has coordinated several research projects funded by the European Commission (FP7-IAPP-MCSA "LOVE TO HATE"; FP7-IAPP-MCSA "ECOMYCORRHIZA", MCSA-IF-H2020 "EMIGRATE"), National funding bodies (ARISTEIA II "BIOREMEDIATOMICS") and industrial partners.
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