Zaganas Ioannis

Neurodegenerative disorders, and especially Alzheimer’s disease, as well as Rare Neurogenetic Disorders, have been the focus of my clinical, educational, and research activities for at least 25 years. On clinical grounds, I have been running the Memory Clinic of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, since its establishment in 2007, following patients with cognitive disorders and offering them access to research projects. Also, I have been diagnosicng and treating patients with rare neurogenetic diseases, including spinal muscular atrophy, hereditary amyloidosis, Huntington’s disease, hereditary ataxias, muscular dystrophies etc. On educational grounds, I have been teaching 4th and 5th year medical students at the University of Crete, as well as postgraduate students, on dementia and neurogenetic disease related topics since 2014. Since July 2022, I have been organizing two highly successful summer schools entitled “Dementia for Medical Students” and “TTR Amyloidosis”, respectively, with participation of medical students from Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, India, Poland, Romania, and the UK. Also, I have been teaching in 5 postgraduate programs (Molecular Basis of Human Disease, Neurosciences, Molecular Medicine, Bioethics, Emergency and Intensive Pediatric Care of the University of Crete, and Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). Recently, I organized a very successful Erasmus Blended Intensive Program on Cognitive Disorders in Crete, with the participation of students and faculty from Coimbra, Valencia, Istanbul and Sofia. I serve as the Scientific Coordinator for the International Student Exchanges of the University of Crete and Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital of Heraklion.