Panagiotis K. Behrakis, MD, PhD (McGill), FCCP, President of the ENSP Scientific Committee, is Associate Professor of Respiratory Physiology at Athens University and Adjunct Professor at Harvard University. He is an MD (Athens University) with two PhDs (McGill and Athens Universities) and three medical specialties (Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine).

He is currently the Scientific Director of the Smoking and Lung Cancer Research Centre and Investigator at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Athens Academy. He is also President of the National Steering Committee for Tobacco Control and Principal Investigator of HEART Project (a collaboration between Harvard University, the Hellenic Cancer Society and the Greek Ministries of Education and Health) for tobacco control in Greece, as well as chair of the Global Governors Council and member of the Board of the American College of Chest Physicians.

In the past he has served as an auditor in a series major European projects (i.e. COPHIT, SIMBIO, BLOODSIM, BIOMED,AIM etc.), editor in eight scientific journals, editor and co-editor of seven books of physiology in Greece, supervisor of more than 30 PhD theses, author of 172 (89 international, 83 Greek) full papers and 350 (130 international, 220 Greek) abstracts accounting for 1420 citations.

He has been the main organizer of more than 20 international scientific events (meetings, congresses, seminars) and has recently published a monograph The Greek Tobacco Epidemic, 2011, Harvard Publications.