The “Panos Englezos Prize 2018” awarded to the Emeritus Professor Christos Kattamis
The University of Nicosia Medical School and the Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF) are delighted to present the ‘Panos Englezos Prize’ 2018 to the Emeritus Professor Christos Kattamis.
About the Panos Englezos Prize
Since 2016, and on a biennial basis, the University of Nicosia Medical School and the Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF) jointly award, the ‘Panos Englezos Prize’. The award is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the area of public health or a scientific/medical advancement in the prevention, management and improvement in the quality of life of patients with haemoglobin disorders.
The award established by the Board of Directors of TIF is named after Mr Panos Englezos, to honour and recognize his vast, lifelong and voluntary contribution to TIF. The promotion and securing of the rights of patients with thalassaemia globally for equal access to quality health and other care, has been his lifetime commitment: a commitment across religious, cultural, social, gender and language barriers.
The 2018 ‘Panos Englezos Prize’ is awarded to Emeritus Professor Christos Kattamis.
Professor Kattamis was born in Cyprus but lived most of his professional life in Athens, Greece. He is a pioneer in the field of thalassaemia: an innovator, a researcher, and an educator who has promoted knowledge and clinical progress for over half a century. He has contributed in all areas of thalassaemia: from diagnosis – he was the first to describe the one step osmotic fragility test for carriers, a screening test still in use in many countries – to pathophysiology, complications, growth and endocrinology. Most of his research has been on haemoglobinopathies and other benign haematological diseases of children and adolescents with almost 200 peer reviewed publications.
Professor Kattamis gained his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Athens in 1958 and earned his specialty in Paediatrics in 1964. In 1966 he joined the WHO research exchange programme at the Universities of Cambridge, UK and Leiden, The Netherlands. In 1967 and 1972 he was a visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge. In 1988 he was appointed Professor and Director of the Department of Maternal and Child Health at Athens University, and since 1999 he is an Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics at the same University.
Professor Kattamis is the President of the Greek Society of Paediatric Haematology, Past President of the Greek Paediatric Society, former Vice President of UNESPA (Union of National Paediatric Societies and Associations), an active member of the MAGAM (Mediterranean Action Group for Adolescent Medicine) group and the I-CETA, a group which studies the endocrinological aspect of thalassaemia and adolescence.
Professor Kattamis’ rich contribution to medical science, paediatrics and paediatric haematology in particular, has led to the present situation where the once fatal children disease has become a chronic one in which life’s ambitions can be fulfilled well into senior citizenship.
We warmly congratulate Prof Kattamis and sincerely thank him for his invaluable contribution to the entire thalassaemia community.
