Presented in Greek
Organ Donation: medical developments, legal framework, and bioethical dilemmas
Who the
Speakers are:
Speakers
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Nikolaos MaghiorosVice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Development, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiProfessor Nikolaos Maghioros serves as Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Development at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he is responsible for shaping academic strategy, advancing curriculum development, promoting institutional modernisation, and ensuring alignment with European Higher Education policies. As President of the University’s Quality Assurance Unit, he oversees both internal and external evaluation processes, accreditation procedures, and compliance with national and European regulatory frameworks.
He is Professor of Canon and Ecclesiastical Law at the University’s School of Theology. He studied Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and completed his postgraduate and doctoral studies at the School of Canon Law of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, supported by a scholarship from the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration.
Professor Maghioros has organised and participated in numerous international conferences, research initiatives, and summer schools focusing on Christian dialogue, interreligious communication, religion–state relations, human rights, the interconnection between religion, culture, and sustainable development, and the protection of religious and cultural heritage.
He has previously served as Head of the School of Theology and as Chairman of the Committee for European Educational Programmes at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since 2020, he has been Director of the Graduate Programme Religion, Geopolitics and International Security.
He is a founding member of the International Consortium for Law and Religious Studies and a member of the international expert group “Christian Law Panel of Experts: An Ecumenical Initiative,” the International Association of Canon Law Experts, and the Board of Directors of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches.
Professor Maghioros has represented the Church of Greece at the Council of European Churches as a member of the Working Group on EU legislation and policy. He also served on the Church of Greece Committee for the Study and Monitoring of the Revision of the Framework of Church–State Relations. He is currently a member of the Synodal Committee on Ecclesiastical Education and Training of the Clergy and of the Supervisory Council for Ecclesiastical Education.
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Ioannis DimarakisSurgical Director of Cardiac Transplantation at the University of WashingtonJohn Dimarakis is Surgical Director of Cardiac Transplantation at the University of Washington, having joined the faculty in 2023. Prior to this appointment, he served as Consultant Cardiac and Cardiothoracic Transplant Surgeon at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, where he also held leadership roles as Deputy Director of Cardiac Surgery and Surgical Director of Cardiothoracic Transplantation.
Dr. Dimarakis completed his surgical training at several leading institutions, including Wythenshawe Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, and the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. His clinical expertise encompasses the full spectrum of adult cardiac surgery, cardiothoracic transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and surgical innovation. His particular areas of interest include aortic surgery, redo cardiac surgery, donation after circulatory death (DCD) heart transplantation, and durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.
His research program integrates both basic science and large-scale surgical outcomes research. Building on his doctoral work at Imperial College London, where he investigated stem cell–based regenerative therapies for ischemic heart disease, Dr. Dimarakis continues to focus on regenerative medicine in cardiac disease. His active research projects include the management of highly sensitized transplant recipients and the development of advanced organ preservation strategies to optimize graft function and expand donor utilization. He is also deeply committed to surgical education and training.
Dr. Dimarakis has edited multiple textbooks on stem cell therapy, authored numerous book chapters, and published more than 75 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has delivered extensive national and international presentations and serves as an editorial board member, associate editor, and peer reviewer for several leading journals in his field. -
Georgios TsoulfasProfessor of Transplantation Surgery and Chief at the Department of Transplantation Surgery at the Aristotle University of ThessalonikiDr Georgios Tsoulfas received his MD from Brown University School of Medicine and completed a general surgery residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, as well as a transplant research fellowship at the Starzl Transplant Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. He then completed a two-year transplantation surgery fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and then joined the Division of Solid Organ Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Surgery. He has currently moved back to Greece, where he is Professor of Transplantation Surgery and Chief at the Department of Transplantation Surgery at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Research and Innovation in Solid Organ Transplantation. He has published over 230 papers in peer-reviewed Journals and in PubMed, as well as 48 book chapters with an H-index 38 and an i10-index 94 and 8460 citations. He has edited 17 books and is a reviewer for 40 International Journal and on the Editorial Board of several others, including International Surgery and Annals of Surgical Oncology.
The recipient of awards such as the Edward E. Mason award for excellence in patient care and education, he is a member of a number of professional organizations including the Society of Surgical Oncology, the TTS, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, Association for Academic Surgery, International College of Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, International Liver Transplantation Society, Society for Laparoscopic Surgeons and International HepaticoPancreaticoBilliary Association. Also the recipient of the American College of Surgeons International Guest Scholarship. He has served as a member of multiple committees, including the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons and the International Relations Committee of the American HepaticoPancreaticoBiliary Association (AHPBA). Currently the president of the Greek Chapter of the International College of Surgeons, he has served as World President of the International College of Surgeons and Chair of the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons. He has served as a member of the AHPBA and the IHPBA Education and Training Committees, the ILTS Education and Scholarship Committee and the E-AHPBA Education Committee (Training Program Accreditation), the ASTS CME and Professional Development committee and the AASLD Training and Workforce Committee and the Association of Surgical Education International Committee. He is also a member of the Executive Council of the Hellenic Surgical Society and President of the Hellenic Transplantation Society since 2024. He was elected Vice-President of the Aristotle University School of Medicine in 2025 and Governor of the American College of Surgeons Greek Chapter in October 2025.
Clinical and research interests include hepatobiliary surgery, primary and secondary hepatic malignancies, ischemia/reperfusion injury, solid organ transplantation, as well as medical/surgical education and the use of technology, including applications of artificial technology and 3D printing in surgery.
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Petros PanagiotopoulosAssistant Professor of TheologyHe was born in Thessaloniki in 1966. He studied Physics and Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and received a Master’s Degree and a Doctorate from the Department of Theology at AUTh. Collaborates with the same Department in a Teaching Experience Program, in the Internship of its Students and in the organization of Open Courses (NSRF Programs). He is a lecturer at the Theological Seminary of the Congolese Orthodox University. Member of the Laboratory of Social Research of Religion and Culture of the Department of Ethics and Sociology of the Department of Theology of AUTh. Curator of the moral-religious edition of the Ecumenical Patriarchate “Orthodoxy” and the Inspectorate of the Patriarchal Center for Patriarchal Studies “Heritage”. In June 2017 he was elected Assistant Professor of the Department of Theology of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In February 2018 he was sworn in and took office.