Dionysios Varonos completed his studies at the Ionideios School and earned his medical degree in 1953, followed by a doctorate in 1956. Beginning his career in the Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology at the University of Athens in 1951, he advanced through all academic ranks and became Professor of Pharmacology in 1969. Over 45 years, he taught students of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Nursing, and is widely recognized as the founder of modern Pharmacology in Greece. He introduced pioneering fields, such as geriatric, environmental, and clinical pharmacology, and was the founder of Greek Psychopharmacology. He published more than 200 research papers in international journals and authored a Medical Pharmacology textbook that was distributed for 35 years. His involvement in anti-doping began with the first committee established for the 1969 European Games, after which he became a leading educator and organizer in sports medicine, earning the Olympic Champion Award in 1996. Varonos held numerous national and international positions: member and Secretary General of the Supreme Health Council (1968–82), contributor to the Hellenic Pharmacopoeia, chairman or member of multiple pharmaceutical and public health committees, and representative of Greece in the WHO, EEC, and other international scientific bodies. He also served as First Vice-Rector of the University of Athens, Dean of the Medical School, and held various administrative roles in major public institutions. Through his teaching, research, and public service, Dionysios Varonos played a central role in shaping pharmacology, health policy, and medical education in Greece.
Christina Spyraki was a physician and Professor of Pharmacology, initially at the Medical School of the University of Crete and from 2000, at the Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She served as rector of the University of Crete (1996-1999), becoming the first woman to hold this position at a Greek university. She was also a member of the National Drug Formulary Committee and the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute. She was a founding member of the Hellenic Society of Pharmacology and a member of numerous other international and Greek scientific societies. She was elected Member of Parliament in the 2000 elections and served as Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare.
Zeta Papadopoulou-Daifoti, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, was a founding member of the Hellenic Society of Pharmacology, the Neuroscience Society, the College of Research, Education, Prediction, and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders, and the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Association of University Women. She played a significant role in the European Medical Association and the Greek National Organization for Medicine Regulation, serving as President of its Drug Reimbursement Committee between 1998 and 2004. She directed the Department of Pharmacology from 2006 until her retirement in 2012 and was a passionate teacher and researcher. Generations of medical, pharmacy, pharmacology, dentistry, and nursing students attended her lectures in pharmacology, and she trained over 50 PhD and MD/PhD students, many of whom now hold positions of responsibility in universities and companies, as well as clinics, in Greece, other parts of Europe, and the USA. Zeta’s contributions to psychopharmacology – witnessed by over 100 publications in English, Greek, French, and Spanish – were in the field of mood and anxiety disorders, with a particular emphasis on sex differences. In many respects, her lab’s work on sex differences in the antidepressant responses was pioneering and raised awareness of the need to address women’s health, especially in the context of psychiatric conditions.
In October 2016, Professor Nikos Sitaras, a distinguished pharmacologist at the Faculty of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, passed away. Nikos graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1977 and earned his PhD from the Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology in 1980. Between 1985 and 1989, he served as a Research Fellow in the Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. He later returned to the Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine in Athens, where he advanced to the position of Professor and Director. Throughout his career, he was deeply committed to teaching pharmacology across all departments of the School of Health Sciences at the University and authored numerous pharmacology textbooks. He also contributed to MSc programs in Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology and supervised over 50 PhD theses in pharmacology and medicine. Beyond formal education, he played an active role in continuing education programs for health science professionals and researchers. Nikos’s research spanned behavioral pharmacology, the impact of platelet-derived growth factor secreted by cancer cells on angiogenesis, the role of glycosaminoglycans as disease biomarkers, the effects of dietary supplements and antioxidants on human oxidative status, and the conduct of meta-analyses of clinical studies.
Ioanna Andreadou, Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, was an outstanding scientist and cherished colleague who devoted her life to research and education. Her work made major contributions to the advancement of Pharmacology worldwide. Ioanna completed her doctoral thesis at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and carried out postdoctoral studies at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. In 2007, she was appointed as a lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy of the National University of Athens, where she progressed to the rank of professor. She taught in undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the National University of Athens and other universities, while she was Director of the Postgraduate Program “Design and Development of Pharmaceutical Compounds”. Her teaching and research activities contributed to the development of the field of Pharmacology internationally and to the establishment and promotion of the Pharmacology Laboratory of the Department of Pharmacy. Her research interests focused on Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Cardio-Oncology, myocardial protection strategies, and molecular toxicology, with internationally recognized work. Ioanna had an active role in leading scientific and state committees, including: President of the Hellenic Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Member of the Scientific Council for Drug Approvals of the Hellenic Pharmaceutical Organization Member of the Drug Committee of the Ministry of Health At the European level, she has been a reviewer of the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs, while she served as head of the working group on myocardial cell biology at the European Society of Cardiology.
“Christina graduated from the Dental School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and earned her PhD at the Laboratory of Pharmacology in its Medical School. She later pursued postdoctoral research in Mainz, Germany, before returning to Greece, where she rose to the rank of Professor of Pharmacology at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, a position she held until her retirement in 2016. Christina’s contributions to research, education, and scientific writing were extensive, with roughly one hundred publications in international journals. She was an active member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie and the Hellenic Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. She presented her work at numerous conferences and contributed chapters to five international, multi-author books in the field of pharmacology. Her research focused primarily on pharmacokinetics across a wide range of subjects and on the pharmacology of herbal medicines, a topic on which she authored two books. She also explored the history of medicine in ancient Greek literature, other ancient cultures, Byzantium, and the Middle Ages. Committed to public engagement, Christina wrote articles for the daily press and organized events aimed at educating the broader public. Her teaching at the School of Health Sciences (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy) guided many doctoral and postgraduate students—doctors, dentists, and pharmacists—many of whom advanced to academic positions with her support and continued to maintain strong scientific and personal ties with her throughout her life.
Vangelis Kafetzopoulos, a distinguished member of HSBCP, was born in Athens in 1951, studied Medicine at the University of Athens, where he also completed his PhD in the Pharmacology Laboratory. He specialized in Neurology and Psychiatry but was drawn to research in Neurosciences and Psychopharmacology. He was a tireless researcher, thinker, visionary, and teacher, inspiring many of the members of our society. He taught for many years as an excellent university professor in Pharmacology, Neuropsychology, and Neurosciences at the University of Ioannina, the University of Athens, and Panteion University. With a deep sense of social justice, efficiency, and reflection, Vangelis left an indelible mark on OKANA, where he worked as the Director and President of the Organization.