Afksendiyos Kalangos: the Greek heart surgeon who has operated on 15,000 children for free (video)

Greek media have given Dr. Afksendiyos Kalangos many names. They have called him “the doctor of the poor,” “a saint without a halo,” “the greek heart surgeon who saves children,” “the guardian angel,” and “the doctor with the golden hands.”

But the most accurate of all the epithets should be “the greek heart surgeon who operated on 15,000 children for free.”

 

Dr. Kalangos began his career as a cardiovascular surgeon at the Geneva Medical School Hospital in Switzerland in 1993. In 1998, the philanthropic doctor founded the “Coeurs Pour Tous” (Hearts for All) foundation, and in 2002 he founded the “Kalangos Institution” for which he also serves as Chairman.

In the past ten years, he has traveled all over the world along with his medical team, performing his “art of saving the lives of children” as a Greek journalist put it. He and his crack team have traveled to a total of 25 countries, performing pro bono heart surgery on fifteen thousand children.

Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, scientist who saved thousands of infants, dies at 90

Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, an internationally known scientist in the field of neonatal medicine who helped save thousands of infants through her groundbreaking research, died Friday, Sept. 11, of endometrial cancer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

During a 50-year career, Dr. Delivoria-Papadopoulos was a professor of pediatrics, physiology, and obstetrics/gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine, and director of neonatal intensive care at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Both are in Philadelphia.

She was regarded as the “mother of neonatology” and “a legend in the field," Greece’s Neonatal Society said in an online tribute.

“She remains alive in the hearts and memories of the hundreds of doctors she trained and inspired to have a love for sick children, of the hundreds of Greek doctors she opened the way for, and of the thousands of Greek patients who found treatment at specialized centers with her help,” the society said on Sept. 14.

Born in Athens, she was the daughter of Constantine and Kalliopi Delivoria. She earned a medical degree from Athens University.

She came to the United States in 1957 to pursue postdoctoral study in physiology at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the faculty and created the neonatal unit at Penn, which she ran before leaving as professor emeritus in 2000.

She was on the Drexel faculty from 2000 to 2006, when she was given the Ralph Brenner Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at St. Christopher’s Hospital.

She was honored globally for her achievements and continued research in neonatal medicine throughout her life. Her most important contribution was taking the iron lung used to treat polio victims in the 1950s and adapting it to support the breathing of premature babies. Another was the use of magnetic resonance imaging to assess the infants' brains.

She was the first doctor to place an infant on a respirator to help with respiratory distress syndrome, her family said in a statement. She was also the first woman and doctor to demonstrate the effective use of mechanical ventilation to treat lung disease in premature infants, the family said.

The good side of Greece radiates

Elona Angoli sewed 600 masks in Grevena. The Saabo family is doing the same in Trikala.

In every corner of Greece an "outbreak" of donations and volunteering and a strong mobilization in the battle against the coronavirus is manifesting.

Residents of Nea Filadelfeia donated more than 200 units of blood. In Agia Paraskevi, 114 units were collected. In Petrana and Kroko Kozanis, 15 and 21 units respectively.

A network of Emergency Seamstresses is created in 37 prefectures to arm the front line with 40,000 reusable masks. The volunteers of Covid-19 Response Greece design and manufacture more than 25,000 face shields. And they keep going.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation announces $100 Million COVID-19 Global Relief Initiative

Responding to the severe and unprecedented challenges posed around the globe by COVID-19, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has announced a major new initiative which aims to help address the impacts of the pandemic.

This initiative, rooted in SNF’s philanthropic philosophy of public-private collaboration and working closely with grantee partners around the world, will focus both immediately and in the long term on some of the most pressing issues related to the pandemic.

The first area of focus is medical research. Knowing that combating the virus effectively at the global scale will require both new vaccines and new treatments, SNF will provide support for research efforts focused on effective testing, treatment, and prevention. To this end, SNF has provided an immediate grant of $3 million to The Rockefeller University to support the world-class institution’s round-the-clock research related to COVID-19. Rockefeller’s Nobel Prize-winning researchers are well positioned to speed development and deployment of vaccines and treatments that could have global impact.

Greek-American scientist Dr. George Scangos heads global campaign for coronavirus treatment

As the entire world appears to be experiencing a new pandemic caused by the infamous Covid19 coronavirus, scientists have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to find a potential treatment which could save thousands — or even millions — of lives.

The key individual currently leading the world’s desperate efforts in this field is Dr. George Scangos, a Greek-American researcher from Massachusetts who was just tasked by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) to coordinate the scientific community towards a cure.

Dr. Scangos is currently the chief executive of the infectious disease biotechnology company Vir.

The hoped-for treatment could offer massive relief to the entirety of humankind, as the consequences of this sudden global public health emergency have already been complex and dramatic.

Before leading Vir, Scangos was the former CEO of Biogen, a pioneering American multinational biotechnology company based in Massachusetts.

Just a few days ago BIO tapped Scangos to lead the response to this global emergency because of his years of expertise and demonstrated excellence in his field.

Niarchos Foundation Health Initiative grants €420 million for new hospitals in Komotini, Sparta and Thessaloniki (photos)

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) announced a health partnership with the Greek government that will include three new hospitals and other initiatives worth a total of 420 million euros in funding.

The details of the partnership were unveiled by SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos at a discussion at the SNF Cultural Center, in the presence of Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the leadership of the Health ministry, ministers and MPs, academics and the general public.

“Access to quality healthcare should be a fundamental right for all people—from the very young to the very old and from big cities to remote islands. Health is about something more essential than hospitals and equipment. It’s about hope, dignity, and respect. This belief drives the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s (SNF) vision for the health sector in Greece: improving health services to improve life for all of us,” SNF said in a statement.

Komotini General Hospital (to be completed June 2024), Sparta General Hospital (2025) and the Thessaloniki Pediatric Hospital (2024) will be designed by Renzo Piano, who also designed the complex that includes SNF’s Cultural Center, the National Library and the National Opera, and who attended the event. Each general hospital is budgeted at 90 million euros, and the children’s hospital at 150 million euros.

"The good side of Greece" supports the GoFundMe campaign for seriously injured diving champion Androgeos Sampsakis

Please donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/seriously-injured-diving-champion 


A message by Evangelos "Stefanos" Tzivopoulos, Head Diving Coach / President of the Hellene Clavadistas:

My beloved friends all over the world.

I am doing this GoFundMe for my beloved friend National and International Junior Champion Androgeos Sampsakis.
 
Androgeos is 17 and is an extremely sweet and talented kid. He is the Greek and Balkan champion this year and a very promising athlete.

Technology detox for kids on the slopes of Mt. Parnassos

One morning last summer Sofia set out for the pine-scented slopes of Mount Parnassos in the family car. The camp organizers had told the kids’ parents to be there at noon, but Sofia arrived early, partly because she had been unsure how long it would take her to get there and partly because she wanted nothing more than to give her 9-year-old son a big hug and to learn all about his time at camp. “Why did I do that?” she asked. “As soon as I got there, he saw me, eyes widening, and said: ‘This is my space! Go away!’ He then went and hid behind his team leader. I was shocked but I understood why he got upset.

When he saw me, he knew that his time at camp was coming to an end and that he would have to return to normal life. I told him not to worry because I would leave and then come back when it was time.” Soon after, the same drama would play out between other parents and their kids when they showed up for the end-of-camp presentation the kids had prepared for them before going home and back to their regular routines. “The kids were crying and so were we. It's hard for a parent. You wonder what you’re doing, whether you’re pressuring your child too much,” she adds.

None of these issues had been contemplated two weeks earlier, when they were taking their children up the mountain for the Elatos Summer Mountain Adventures program, which is organized by the Elatos Resort for kids aged 7 to 14. It's a new kind of summer camp for kids which emphasizes simplicity, getting back to nature and out of touch with technology and the connected world. They learn about bushcraft, the art of survival in the wilderness. They also learn about botany, astronomy, music from the mountain's natural sounds and visual arts based on the myths of Parnassos.

Niarchos Foundation Donates 143 Ambulances to the Greek State

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) announced it is donating 143 modern ambulances to the National Emergency Center (EKAV) and undertaking their full maintenance for the next eight years, as part of its initiative against the economic crisis and aside its regular community action.

The new vehicles will modernize 22 percent of EKAV’s total ambulance fleet of 650 vehicles, replacing older technology vehicles, SNF’s Chief Operating Officer John Zervakis said at an event held on Thursday with EKAV and the Health ministry to present the donation.

Skotino, Crete’s Non-Smoking Village

This past summer, Greek journalist Foteini Eleftheriou, from the news site ekriktiko.gr visited the village Skotino (meaning “dark” in English) near Heraclion, Crete, to record the unwritten law followed by its residents for the past decades: NO SMOKING.

There is only one resident in the village who smokes from time to time, but the rest of the villagers hope that he will soon follow their example too.

Greek Scientist May Have Found Genetic Cause of Gigantism

A team of US researchers led by Greek-American Constantine Stratakis, discovered a gene associated with the excessive growth in children, known as gigantism. The team hopes that their discovery may play a significant role in finding a treatment for the disease.

The National Institutes of Health researchers, published their work in the medical journal “New England Journal of Medicine.”

During their research they analyzed the DNA of 43 people with gigantism and made a comparative analysis of their genome. They found a duplication of a short X chromosome region in people who suffer from overgrowth and then attempted to identify which specific gene within this region was responsible for the excessive growth of children with gigantism.

Greek researcher close to a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s diagnosis

“We are close to developing a blood test that will be able to detect Alzheimer’s before clinical diagnosis is possible,” says Dimitrios Kapogiannis, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging and professor at Johns Hopkins University in the US state of Maryland, who unveiled the results of his research to the public last week. The new method promises to detect the disease as many as 10 years before the first symptoms appear.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Announces Emergency Relief Grant to Help Combat Ebola Epidemic

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has announced a $500,000 emergency relief grant to international non-profit organization Doctors Without Borders, to help combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation funds two mobile medical units serving remote Greek islands

Residents of Greece’s remote islands in the eastern Aegean, who have been suffering a shortage of doctors and ferry connections to the mainland as a result of cost-cutting measures, now have better access to primary healthcare thanks to a charitable donation by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for two state-of-the-art mobile medical clinics staffed by 16 volunteer doctors specializing in different key fields.

Cancer Patient, 4, Stirs Greek-Australians

The story of a four-year-old Greek-Australian boy, who suffers from medulloblastoma, a rare form of cancer, managed to move a big part of the Greek-Australian community.

Little Loukas Strouzas was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. From the first moment the news that he had to be transferred to the US was published, many people were mobilized to collect the sum of 200,000 dollars needed for his hospitalization in a special clinic.

Greek teen Charalampos Ioannou develops exoskeleton glove

“The idea came to me when I saw my grandmother trying to grasp the TV remote and the remote was slipping from her fingers. And I asked myself: How can I solve this problem?” Charalampos Ioannou says in a homemade video posted on YouTube.

Austria Sends Medicine For The Uninsured

An assistance caravan with medicine and paramedical material arrived from Austria to the Elpis Hospital in Athens. The medicine is for the uninsured, who lost their health care insurance along with their jobs. “We have received five tons of medicine so far,” the Director of the Elpis Hospital, Theodoros Giannaros, said.

George Velmachos: Boston Marathon’s Life-Saving Greek Doctor

Dr. George Velmachos became known worldwide as the head of doctors who successfully treated the victims of the bomb attack at the Boston Marathon last April. The great Greek scientist is also the doctor of 16-year-old Myrto, who was sexually assaulted last summer on Paros.

The unsung heroes of the medical profession

Olga Kesidou is an ear, nose and throat doctor with a private practice. I spent quite a long time there during our interview and was surprised to note that not a single patient walked through the doors. The stereotype is that Greek doctors are corrupt money-grubbers who demand a wad of cash to do their jobs and take kickbacks from pharmaceuticals to promote their products.

NY Times: Ikaria - The Island Where People Forget to Die

In 1943, a Greek war veteran named Stamatis Moraitis came to the United States for treatment of a combat-mangled arm. He’d survived a gunshot wound, escaped to Turkey and eventually talked his way onto the Queen Elizabeth, then serving as a troopship, to cross the Atlantic. Moraitis settled in Port Jefferson, N.Y., an enclave of countrymen from his native island, Ikaria. He quickly landed a job doing manual labor. Later, he moved to Boynton Beach, Fla. Along the way, Moraitis married a Greek-American woman, had three children and bought a three-bedroom house and a 1951 Chevrolet.