About me
I was born in Crete and despite my 25 years in London I still identify as Greek. I cannot remember a time that I did not want to be a doctor. I was lucky to have a family who was supportive and pushed me to achieve my potential. The desire of my parents to become the best I could be brought me to London where I studied medicine at Imperial College. The following five years I struggled to decide where I wanted to live, England or Greece. I joined the navy as part of my Greek military service and then spent a year as a doctor in a rural area in Crete. In 2007, having returned to London two things happened that greatly influenced my life. Firstly, I met my lovely wife who since has been my rock with our three children. Secondly, I met my mentor, Sanjay Sharma and the wonderful charity Cardiac Risk in the Young who have dedicated their lives to saving young ones. They changed the course of my professional career steering me towards preventive cardiology and academia. Listening to parents who lost their children from sudden cardiac death makes you realise what a tragedy is and the importance of cardiovascular prevention.
EAPC & me
I first became involved with EAPC in 2008 and I was the recipient of the Young Investigators Award in 2010. I was elected as a member of the Sports Cardiology & Exercise nucleus and had the privilege of chairing the section between 2018-2020. During this time, I was involved with several projects including the creation of the Sports Cardiology curriculum in 2013, the creation of the preventive cardiology curriculum more recently and a number of recommendation documents aimed at guiding clinical practice. I served as a member and then chaired our Education Committee when I built the Sports Cardiology educational material for the ESC e-learning platform and established the Sports Cardiology quiz.
What does it mean for you to be EAPC President-Elect?
Last year, our members made me the honour of electing me to the position of EAPC President-Elect. This is something I would not have imagined a few years ago. I strongly believe in the potential of preventive cardiology which should form the cornerstone of cardiology and a core component of the ESC. My aim is to try and establish preventive cardiology as a formal subspecialty. The EAPC curriculum as well as the certification and accreditation process are big steps towards achieving that goal. We also need to work harder to make preventive cardiology a more attractive subspecialty by building on aspects of our association that are likely to attract a greater audience and substantial funding. Refining our association’s message and presenting the potential impact of our practice at societal and financial levels will draw more interest to EAPC from patients, colleagues, decision-makers and potential investors. The key to all this is to improve our educational offer by proposing a more targeted, exciting and interactive experience. I am looking forward to the next years and I invite all our young colleagues with an appetite to excel in life to join and work for EAPC, as preventive cardiology is destined to grow and reward their efforts.
Not an EAPC Member yet?
Our mission: To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.