With a full house of members, medical professionals and members of the community, the Greek Cypriot Brotherhood proudly hosted Professor Kypros Nicolaides for a captivating presentation and fireside chat with its Vice-President Christos Karaolis and Secretary of the Cyprus Medical Society in the UK, Dr Ifigenia Mantrali.
Professor Nicolaides spoke about his inspiration to go into fetal medicine, recalling that as a young medical professional he arrived in London in 1970s shortly before Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus. He said that he spent much of his student years focusing on demonstrating against Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus and fascist dictatorships, as a leader of the Cypriot student movement. Towards the end his degree, he attended a lecture by a Scottish Professor, Mr Campbell, who inspired him to undertake a 3 month placement in fetal medicine. He recalls how incredible it was to study images of moving foetuses and was inspired to join the field which he later became a pioneer of.
Professor Nicolaides attributed his pioneering research and discoveries to being an “outsider.” As a migrant from Cyprus, Professor Nicolaides said he was never part of the establishment, so never felt wedded to existing practises. He said that his priority has always been to provide the best life chances for mothers and babies. He said this attitude led to his pioneering discoveries across fetal medicine. Professor Nicolaides described a number of these discoveries, including his research on the early diagnosis of Down Syndrome babies as well as the treatment of pre-eclampsia and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, which was the subject of Netflix documentary “The Surgeon’s Cut.”
Asked about his advice for young doctors, he urged them to remember the importance of the human-side of medical care and to think critically about the science and evidence.
In his introductory remarks, Vice-President of the Greek Cypriot Brotherhood, Christos Karaolis, praised Professor Nicolaides for his groundbreaking research, highlighting the numerous awards that he has received including his recent election to the United States National Academy of Medicine and the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III by the Republic of Cyprus.
Also in attendance was the Consul General of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Odysseas Odysseos.
The Greek Cypriot Brotherhood was founded in 1934 and is the oldest Cypriot community association. It operates from its premises at Britannia Road, London, N12 9RU. For more information, or to join, visit https://www.gcbrotherhood.co.uk/ or find us on Facebook/Instagram (greekcypriotbrotherhood)