UK Cypriot Professor Kypros Nicolaides, a pioneer in the field of fetal medicine, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine in the USA. Professor Nicolaides, who has spent the vast majority of his career at King’s College Hospital, is one of only 10 non-US based clinicians to be elected to this prestigious academy. It is intended to recognise the achievements and commitments of the very best in the field and is considered to be one of the greatest honours in health and medicine.
In recognition of his remarkable achievements that have revolutionised fetal and maternal medicine, Professor Nicolaides was honoured for “improving the care of pregnant women worldwide with pioneering rigorous and creative approaches, and making seminal contributions to prenatal diagnosis and every major obstetrical disorder.”
Born in Paphos in 1953, and the son of a doctor, Professor Nicolaides came to the UK aged just 17 to study at Kings College London. He remained at Kings and has held the Professor of Fetal Medicine title since 1991. He is also the director of the Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, the first fetal medicine unit in the United Kingdom.
He has written numerous books, has authored countless research papers, is a world-renowned pioneer in fetal surgery and has revolutionised pre-natal care and assessments around the world with his work on the nuchal translucency scan.
Last week, Parikiaki’s Michael Yiakoumi caught up with Professor Nicolaides via Zoom. The interview is available online at www.parikiaki.com/2020/10/298921, but for those who do not have access to a computer or would prefer to read the interview, a written version follows….

Michael: Good morning Kypros and congratulations on behalf of Parikiaki and the Cypriot community on receiving one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine. What does it mean to you personally and to your profession?
Kypros: Thank you very much Michael, it’s a great pleasure to be able to communicate with the Cypriot community. I feel very proud to be a Cypriot, and in many respects, I consider it a reward for my efforts in medicine, but also the ethos I acquired from being a Cypriot. This is in terms of my devotion to looking after pregnant women and working over a number of decades for the benefit of pregnant women and their babies.
It is a great award, because only 10 doctors (from outside the USA) have been selected by the American Academy of Medicine. I haven’t got very much to do with the American academy so for them to have selected me, amongst all fields of medicine, is recognition of the work that I have carried out with my co-workers over a number of decades, so it is a great honour.

Michael: Kypros, you are the head of one of the biggest fetal medicine research centres in the world. What work does the centre undertake?
Kypros: Michael we do a lot of things, so many of the developments in our field of fetal medicine, pregnant women and looking after their babies have been developed in our research centre from the 1980s onward. We have developed methods of examining pregnant women with ultrasound to diagnose fetal abnormalities from as early as the beginning of the pregnancy. The most important breakthrough relates to nuchal translucency, the collection of fluid behind the baby’s neck which is used throughout the world in screening, to identify pregnancies with chromosomal abnormalities and abnormalities of the heart and many other major abnormalities. We do a lot of work on fetal surgery, undertaking intrauterine procedures to correct certain fetal abnormalities using laser through a telescope to separate identical twins that are bleeding into each other. And the prediction and prevention of the two most important complications of pregnancy which are premature birth and pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is high blood pressure in pregnancy which is responsible for many, many women dying throughout the world and many, many babies dying and suffering long term disabilities. Summarising, it is the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities, prediction and prevention of important fetal and maternal complications during pregnancy and fetal surgery.

Michael: During the coronavirus pandemic and your recent health issues, how has the centre and yourself been coping?
Kypros: Last October I was diagnosed with this condition called Multiple Myeloma, which is a form of blood cancer. I was receiving chemotherapy at the beginning of the year and I continued to work because I felt quite well, unfortunately however, from April, with the lockdown, I had to isolate because of the chemotherapy my immune system was being damaged and I could not resist any major infections, and if I caught Covid, I would have died. I had to stay at home, so I worked from home in terms of analysing data, writing scientific papers and on a daily basis, my co-workers were sending me videos and asking for my opinion on how to manage pregnancies. I even carried out fetal surgical interventions using a mobile! Through FaceTime, I was directing my team on how to perform the surgery. From my point of view, I managed to continue to work through a very difficult period – from home though. I miss being with the patients a lot, but I’m very proud that I have a very good team of doctors that are able to continue to work in my absence.
In July, I went through a difficult period because I had a marrow transplantation and that made me feel quite unwell for a few weeks, but now I feel very well.

Michael: What does the future hold for Professor Kypros Nicolaides and the fetal centre?
Kypros: My dream is to continue to work, I intend to carry on working until I die, there is no such concept in my mind as retirement. I have invested all my life, in terms of working in this clinical research centre at Kings, through my work and the charitable organization that I have set up we have donated £45 million towards building a beautiful research centre and also giving a lot of scholarships to hundreds of doctors from all over the world. My life will continue, continue to research, have more breakthroughs, reduce maternal and pre-natal death and disabilities and train as many doctors in the world as possible and to continue to promote this work so that it is accessible, not only to the most advanced western countries but also to very importantly for the developing countries. I have helped set up centres in places like Zimbabwe and Rwanda. I have trained, as I said, hundreds of doctors from many different countries and that needs to continue, so Kypros Nicolaides, hopefully, as long as he is alive will continue to work!

Michael: Thank you for talking to us as Parikiaki Newspaper, as a Cypriot community we are very proud of your achievements. I’m sure you are motivating most of the UK’s Cypriots and Cypriots all over the world to follow in your footsteps. Even if it is not in the medical field but in other areas, you demonstrate that there is room for them to achieve things in their lives. We wish you continued success.
Kypros: Thank you very much Michael and I give all my love to Parikiaki and the Cypriot community.

As a freelance journalist, I specifically contacted Parikiaki and asked if I could cover Professor Nicolaides’ interview and award as he is someone I truly admire. I am one of the countless people to have benefitted from his expertise and skill having visited his clinic in Harley Street a few years ago. An anomaly (mild hyperechogenic bowel) was seen on my 20-week scan at the NHS hospital where I was due to have my baby. I was offered an amniocentesis but I did not want this due to the risk of miscarriage, so I was advised that a few private clinics offered a non-invasive blood test to see if there was a risk of Downs Syndrome, so I went about finding out where I could get this done. I was given the name of few clinics, but when I did my research Professor Nicolaides’ clinic stood head and shoulders above the rest. When I read that he was a world leader, I knew I wanted to go there. The fact that he was Cypriot made it feel right in a different way, in a spiritual way, so to speak, because I am very tied to my community and it is always comforting to come across a fellow Cypriot in an unexpected place. Choosing to go to his clinic was one of the best decisions that I have ever made.
My story is not a dramatic one like many of those he has helped, I am sure there are thousands out there that are much more interesting. I didn’t even see him personally (though I would have loved to have met him), there was no pioneering surgery or ground-breaking interventions, but it meant the world to me and my family.
At his clinic, I had a scan and some blood tests. The sonographer was amazing and she even called the consultant because I explained that the finding of mild hyperechogenic bowel on my previous scans had made me quite anxious. The consultant flew in with gusto and confidence and I was filled with joy as both of them reassured me that everything was fine with my baby. I honestly don’t think there is any greater news to receive. I will never forget how I felt after that appointment, there are no words to describe it.
Since then, I have followed his career and read many of the interviews about his incredible achievements. It is easy to see why he has been dubbed a miracle worker and is a world leader in the field. In these strange and challenging times, I think the efforts of our doctors and medical professionals have come to mean so much more and are rightfully being recognised as truly heroic and admirable. Professor Nicolaides is both awe-inspiring and remarkable, and as Michael mentions in his interview, a fantastic role model for other Cypriots to look up to.
I am sure that you will all join me in wishing Professor Nicolaides a speedy recovery and a quick return to work.

By Sheniz Raif