Dr. Theoklis Zaoutis is a physician and public health researcher and leader, Zaoutis recently served as president of the Greek National Public Health Organization (also known as the Greek Centers for Disease Control). He is a tenured professor of pediatrics at the National and Kapodistrian University School of Medicine in Athens, a former professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and, most recently, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

At Kapodistrian, he led efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the refugee crisis in Greece as well as to modernize the Organization, revamping epidemiological data systems for future preparedness and response efforts. He fostered relationships with international partners, served on the European Union Health Security Council, and initiated the effort for the Greek health organization to join the International Association of Public Health Institutes. In 2011, he founded an NGO, the Collaborative Center for Clinical Epidemiology in Greece, which has been shortlisted for the European Commission’s EU Health award.

Zaoutis received his B.S. in biology from the State University of New York at Stonybrook, his M.D. from the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and his Ph.D. from the School of Medicine of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.