CSR Mourns Makrides

Dr. Savvas Makrides, a scientific review officer at the Center for Scientific Review, died peacefully at his cousin’s home in Newton, Mass., on Mar. 2. 

Makrides came to NIH in 2009 and had been an SRO at NCI, NIDCR and CSR. He lived in Gaithersburg and was formerly of Bedford, Mass. He had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer earlier this year.

“Savvas took a great deal of joy and pride in taking on a difficult job at CSR,” said Dr. Richard Panniers, chief of CSR’s genes, genomes and genetics integrated review group. “He successfully administered highly complex reviews in multiple clusters, including structural biology, biomedical engineering, cell biology and genetics/genomics.”

Makrides was born in Paphos, Cyprus, in 1950 and came to the United States as an undergraduate in biology at the University of Minnesota. After completing his Ph.D. in biology at Boston College, he had postdoctoral fellowships at Tufts University Medical School and at Boston University Medical School in biochemistry. 

His areas of interest included gene transfer and protein expression in bacterial, insect and mammalian cell systems as well as fluorescent particles for labeling proteins and drug development. He made widely recognized contributions to his field with 19 coauthored original research articles, 7 patents and many scientific reviews and book chapters. After postdoctoral studies, Makrides worked at T-Cell Sciences, EIC Laboratories and several other biotechnology companies prior to joining NIH. 

“He loved to laugh, had a wonderful sense of humor and was a loyal friend to many,” said Dr. Cliff Schweinfest, a friend and colleague at NCI. He noted that Makrides took a scholarly approach to all of his endeavors and had many interests, both in science and society. He will be remembered for his vigorous discussion of many topics, his love of jazz and classical music as well as his intense interest in gardening.

Survivors include his daughter, Julie Makrides, of Concord, Mass.; his former wife, Joyce Eather, of Brookline, Mass.; sister Elli Savaranos of Dallas, brother Harmos Makrides of Scotland; cousin Alkis Makrides of Newton and his mother, Tasoulla Makrides, of Nicosia, Cyprus.