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Professional Profile

Dr. Michael Carakostas is a Senior Consultant with ToxStrategies. He is a board-certified veterinary clinical pathologist with over 25 years of industry experience in the safety assessment of drugs, chemicals and food ingredients. Dr. Carakostas has also held faculty appointments on the veterinary school faculties of Kansas State University (KSU), Louisiana State University and Tufts University as well as adjunct appointments to the University of Pennsylvania and Georgia State University. Dr. Carakostas earned a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Michigan State University. At Kansas State University he earned a PhD in laboratory medicine and comparative pathology from KSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Carakostas is a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP).

Dr. Carakostas has experience in safety assessment through positions he held in the chemical, drug and food industries. He is widely known among veterinary pathologists for his expertise in the interpretation of clinical laboratory data in pre-clinical toxicity studies. He also has experience in the development of new veterinary drugs including target animal safety testing as well as the safety of residues in meat and milk from
food producing animals.

Dr. Carakostas has extensive experience in food ingredient safety assessment, food regulatory affairsand the management of risk and communication issues related to food safety and product claims. He has held leadership roles in several major food trade associations, assisting those organizations through a number of crises that affected the food industry. He managed the corporate scientific and regulatory affairs department for a major global food company and led the department through a number of national and international scientific and regulatory crises. He has extensive experience with issues related to the safety and claim substantiation of functional and herbal ingredients and safety issues related to food biotechnology, caffeine, and sweeteners. He has managed a variety of GRAS evaluations, as well as several international ingredient approvals.