BOSTON, MA – The New England Hellenic Medical and Dental Society (NEHMDS) held their 19th Hygeia Award and Scholarship Dinner at Davio’s Restaurant in Boston and honored with the Hygeia Award Dr. Nikos Soukos, a scientist, researcher, entrepreneur, and educator.
Dr. Soukos is a pioneer in the field of photo-medicine and dentistry. He is an accomplished translational medical scientist and academic teacher. He holds a DMD degree from the University of Athens, a MSc in Experimental Oral Pathology from the Eastman Dental Institute, University of London, and a PhD in Oral Biology from the University of Munich, where he also received his clinical training in oral medicine. He has worked as research scientist in photo-medicine at the Eastman Dental Institute in London (1992-1995) and in the Wellman Center of Photo-medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital – Harvard Medical School (1995-2002).
In June, 2002, he joined The Harvard affiliated Forsyth Institute, where he founded and directed the Applied Molecular Photo-medicine Laboratory rising to the position of Senior Research Investigator.
In February, 2015, Soukos joined the College of Science at Northeastern University, where he holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Physics and Biology. There, he has developed new courses for undergraduate students such as Molecular Medicine, Medical Microbiology, and Medical Physics. His latest course, titled, “Modern Science: A journey into Matter, Life and Mind” attracts students from all academic disciplines; the Arts, Law, Business, Engineering, Social Studies and Humanities.
The NEHMDS Board presented the Inaugural Iaso Award to Iphigenia Kanara the Consul General of Greece in Boston. The Iaso is bestowed on a person whose contributions, service, and efforts have been extraordinary in advancing NEHMDS’ goals while promoting the ideals of Hellenism. The Society’s goals are to help advance the careers of doctors and allied health professionals of Hellenic ancestry through various educational forums, scholarships, collaboration, mentorship, and community awareness. In addition, through networking, the Society serves to facilitate access to healthcare for patients of the Greek and Greek- American community at large.
During the awards ceremony, NEHMDS President Dr. Mark Pernokas said “those who know Iphigenia realize how tirelessly she has been working to serve the Greek-American community throughout New England. Her presence is in constant demand and she keeps a schedule that often results in great personal sacrifice.
“I’ve heard her described as a ‘Wonder Woman extraordinaire’ and I couldn’t agree more. As Consul General here in Boston, she has set the bar so high that she surely will be a very difficult act to follow.”
Each year, NEHMDS awards scholarships to deserving, qualified, medical students, dental students and research fellows, of Greek descent. This year, NEHMDS presented nine scholarships: seven scholarships to medical and dental students were made possible by the generosity of the Markopoulos and Hionides families. The recipients were: John Damianos, Dartmouth Medical School, Class of 2020; Yannis Koroneos, Tufts University Dental School, Class of 2020; Marianna Papageorge, Tufts Medical School, Class of 2018; Arietta Rigopoulos, Tufts University Dental School, Class of 2019; Thomas Soussou, Tufts Medical School, Class of 2020; Constantinos Tarabanis, Harvard Medical School, Class of 2019; and Anna Takos, Tufts Medical School, Class of 2020
Two additional scholarships were awarded to medical research fellows, made possible by a newly endowed scholarship honoring George and Marianna Vavvas, the inaugural recipients were: Dr. Maria Korre, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health; and Konstantina Sampani, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Beetham Eye Institute of Joselin Diabetes Center.
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