Professor Theodore Kofidis recently participated as honorary president in the 1st International Congress on Interventional, Endoscopic, and Hybrid Techniques for the Treatment of Heart Valve Diseases. This hybrid conference took place in Thessaloniki at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on June 3-4, 2022, under the auspices of the “Aghios Loukas” Clinic. 

Professor Kofidis, Director of the Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery Department at the National University Hospital of Singapore, is also a member of Komvos. He is the president of the I.R.I.S. (Initiative for Research and Innovation in Surgery), and has introduced various new technologies related to minimally invasive surgery. 

Over the last decade, he has developed the pioneering Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery program in Singapore. He has also established a state-of-the-art research laboratory and Cardiothoracic Surgery Center/Simulation Center (Training & Simulation Center in Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery), named ATHINAEON, which is internationally considered a model organization. 

Professor Kofidis has developed a new heart valve, which is significantly different from those currently on the market. The valve is uniquely designed, resembling a healthy human valve. As he explains: “It is the first valve in history that is not taken off the shelf like industrial ones, and is a better fit to the patient’s heart. We collect preoperative data from the patient, and using special algorithms (my own patents), we prepare a valve that matches the specific patient. We cut and stitch the valve to fit the patient’s heart and function.” 

Culture eats Strategy for breakfast everyday

Professor Theodore Kofidis has also extensively discussed Greek identity and the prospects of Hellenism, which is central to the founding of KOMVOS-NODE. Below, we share two questions posed by Ms. Anna Grimani to Professor Kofidis during an interview for the Huffington Post. His responses could be part of the KOMVOS Q&A: 

What would you do for Greece?

“More than what it has done for me. I would offer my knowledge and experience for the correct application of the triad: clinical innovation, hybrid cardiac surgery training, and research, to promote this field in our country. Above all, however, I would focus on cultivating a new culture and perspective in medicine (reciprocally with the state) because ‘Culture eats Strategy for breakfast every day.’ Culture is everything, not strategy.”

Regarding Greek identity 

• “Everyone must know the ‘Why’ in their life, not just the ‘What’ and the ‘How.’ Similarly, society and our country. Greek identity must be re-defined rationally, and not absorbed by Greekness. The self-deceptions, the ‘Ichor,’ our occasional myths must be counterbalanced with ethics, vision, and mission. Greece, and its DNA – if you like-, its Greek identity, is defined by thousands of elements and equally abundant theories. Our Greek identity, I believe, needs re-definition, with education and humanity as its foundation.” 

You can read the full interview, which was conducted by Ms. Anna Grimani, in the Greek edition of the Huffington Post.