Gregorios Skalkeas

Biography

Skalkeas was born in Aeropolis of Lakonia, Greece. He studied at the University of Athens where he specialized in General Surgery and received his Ph.D. He went on to study Cardiac Surgery in Great Britain and the U.S.A. for 5 years.In 1964 he was elected Lecturer and later Associate Professor at the University of Athens and in February of 1967, he was elected Full Professor of Surgery. He has also served as Professor of Forensic Medicine and Urology for a short period of time.During the decade of 1960, he founded and directed the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Athens. It was in this Department that he, together with his colleagues, performed Congenital Heart Disease and Valve Replacement Surgeries as well as Aorta Coronary Bypasses. After his election as Full Professor of Surgery and Director of the Second Surgery Department, he founded the first experimental research laboratory and the first transplant center in Greece. He, along with a few of his esteemed colleagues, performed the first Kidney Transplant in Athens as well as the first Combination Kidney and Pancreas Transplant in Greece.In the laboratory of Experimental Surgery, 195 PhD Theses and 35 Theses for Associate Professors were completed. During his 30 years as Professor and Chairman in the Second Surgical Clinic he trained a large number of surgeons, 12 of which have been elected Full Professors at Universities throughout Greece and others hold academic and director posts at General Surgery and Cardiac Centers. Skalkeas has been a member of 74 Scientific Societies and Colleges in Greece and abroad. He served as President of the Medical Society of Athens and the Hellenic Surgery Society and was elected Foreign member of the National Academy of Surgery - France (Societueve de l' Academie de Chirurgie). He is a member of the New York Academy Science, and full member of Academia Europea. He served as Clinical Professor in the Ohio State University, and was awarded the title of Friend of the Democretus University of Thrace which he is also an honorary Doctor of the School of Medicine and an Honorary Professor of the University of Peloponnesus. He is an older member of the Greek-French Association and has founded the Greek Section of the European Club de la Sante. He was honored as Archon Great Referendarius of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as with the honorary title of Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix from the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic. Skalkeas has also founded many Scientific Societies in Greece like the Greek Section of the Collegium Internationalae Clinoungae Digestivae. He has also served as Dean in the Medical School and Senator in the University of Athens. In 1989 he was elected as member of the Academy of Athens and during 2003 he held the position of the President of the Academy. He has written four scientific books and has published a large number of scientific studies in prominent international as well as Greek journals. Skalkeas is the founder of the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens and has been the President of the Board of Directors since 1991.

Research Interest

 Surgeon