Dr. Polychronakos is Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McGill and staff at the Montréal Children’s Hospital, where he served as director of Pediatric Endocrinology (1998-2013). He studied medicine in Greece and trained in endocrinology at Hôpital Sainte-Justine.
Dr. Polychronakos has a major involvement in research, with a specific interest in the genetics of diabetes, where he has made major contributions. He discovered new genes involved in the disease, including the gene mutated in a rare form of neonatal diabetes (https://www.nature.com/articles/7282708a) that is necessary for the normal development of the pancreas. He is now leading the ADDAM project (Accurate Diagnosis in Diabetes for Appropriate Management), aiming to individualize care for rare genetic forms of diabetes that can be treated with pills rather than insulin injections. He travels often to China, where he is Honorary Professor at the Zhejiang University Children’s Hospital. He is particularly interested in how European vs. East Asian genetic ancestry affects the risk of diabetes.
For his research work he has won, among many other distinctions, the 2009 Canadian Pediatric Society award and was named Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
In addition to childhood diabetes, Dr. Polychronakos has an interest in pubertal development and growth. He was the Canadian representative to the committee that wrote the USA Pediatric Endocrine Society growth hormone guidelines and has also served as invited expert to Quebec’s INESS (Institut National d ’Excellénce en Santé et Services Sociaux). He particularly enjoys reassuring anxious parents and protecting children from unnecessary medical intervention.
In his limited free time, Dr. Polychronakos enjoys computer-generated art. His artistic creations have illustrated the cover of Nature Genetics and other medical journals and made the short list in a poster competition for the Montreal Jazz festival.