Efstathios Detorakis was born in Heraklion, Crete (1967), graduated from the 3rd Lyceum of Heraklion and was admitted with Panhellenic exams to the Medical School of Athens (1985). He received his medical degree with grade “Excellent” (Medical degree Univ. Athens), read the Hippocratic Oath with as the graduate with the highest score of his series (1991) and received the Excellence Degree of the Medical School (Excellence award Medical School). During his undergraduate studies he received scholarships of the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) (IKY scholarship) and the Antonios Papadakis Bequest of the University of Athens (Papadakis Scholarship).

During the years 1994-1996 he was a scientific associate of the Vardinoyannio Laboratory of Eye Institute of Crete (VEIC) at the Medical School of the University of Crete under Professor Ioannis G. Pallikaris, known worldwide for his contribution to the development of refractive surgery and completed his residency in Ophthalmology at the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital of Heraklion also under Professor Ioannis Pallikaris (1996-1999) (Pallikaris reference letter). Moreover, he received his PhD thesis from the Laboratory of Clinical Virology of the Medical School of the University of Crete under Professor Dimitrios Spandidos on “Molecular Genetic Analysis of Microsatellite DNA Sequences in Ocular Pterygium Tissues” (1999) (PhD thesis).
Efstathios Detorakis then moved to the United Kingdom where he specialized in Oculoplastic Surgery at Salisbury District Hospital under Anthony G. Tyers (Tyers certificate), as well as at Southampton University Hospital under Ruth Manners (Manners
certificate). Subsequently, during the period 2001-2002 he moved to Los Angeles, USA, where he completed a one-year specialization in Ophthalmic Oncology under Professors Bradley R. Straatsma, Marc Yoshizumi and Joseph Demer, at the Jules Stein Eye Institute of UCLA. During his specializations abroad, Efstathios Detorakis successively received scholarships of the “Ioannis Kontoleontos”, “Lilian Voudouri” and “Alexander Onassis” Bequests.

Upon his return to Greece (2002), Efstathios Detorakis was elected Lecturer of Ophthalmology at the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH). In 2010 he was elected Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Crete, in 2018 Associate
Professor of Ophthalmology and in 2022 also Professor of Ophthalmology at the same University, a position he holds until today. Since 2015, he has been performing Ru-106 brachytherapy operations for the treatment of intraocular tumors, receiving referrals from all over Greece at the University Hospital of Heraklion, the only public hospital in the country that offers this treatment option for intraocular tumors. Professor Detorakis has also visited as visiting faculty the Jules Gonin Eye Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland (2009) and the Moorfields Eye Hospital in Londin, UK (2017).

During his scientific career, Efstathios Detorakis developed intense research activity in the fields of glaucoma, oculoplastic surgery and ophthalmic oncology, which led to a large number of publications (over 125 in May 2025 in PubMed) in the most reputable
international ophthalmological journals (first author in 57 and last author in with a correspondingly large number of citations (over 2000m, with an H-index of 27 at Scopus, May 2025), chapters in ophthalmological books, paper presentations in Greek and
international conferences and invited speeches in national and international scientific meetings. He has also authored 3 monographs, “Emergencies in Ophthalmology” (teaching manual at the Medical Schools of Crete and Patras), “Basic and Clinical Ophthalmology” (teaching manual at the Medical Schools of Crete, Athens and Thessaly) and “Oculoplastic Surgery and Internal Medicine” (Neon Publications). He has trained undergraduate and postgraduate medical students as a faculty member for more than 20 years (from 2002 until today) in 2 Medical Schools (the Democritus University of Thrace and the University
of Crete). He has also supervised the clinical-surgical training of many resident doctors in Ophthalmology and resident general practitioners in the University Hospitals of Alexandroupolis (2002-2006) and Heraklion (2006-present day) and has taught for many
years in several postgraduate courses Ophthalmology programs, at the Democritus University of Thrace, the University of Crete. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, the University of West Attica and the University of Patras. In the context of his teaching in these postgraduate programs, he was the main supervisor in 16 postgraduate Master’s positions that were successfully completed. At the same time, he was the main supervisor in 3 PhD theses that were successfully completed at the University of Crete, while supervising and co-supervising many more. He has also received funding for 9 research projects in Greece and abroad (USA), either as a co-investigator or as a principal investigator, is a reviewer in 30 international ophthalmological journals and has been invited to participate as a member of the editorial board of 12 journals, is a member of 12 Greek and international scientific societies and the acting President of the Hellenic Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (HSOPRS) and holds 2 patents on biomedical implants.