Onassis Health Day 2019

The Onassis Foundation, the Onassis Scholars’ Association and the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center will host the first Onassis Health Day in the Main Stage of Onassis Stegi. The colloquium “Health and Society: Future Dialogues" aims to change the way we learn about and problematize issues relating to medical research and the philosophical, social and scientific challenges posed by developments in this field.

The program of the colloquium, which starts at 12:00 and ends at 20:30, consists of three main sections. Each section in turn consists of various presentations and culminates in a live debate between two speakers on the issue at hand. The public can express where they stand on the issues under discussion by voting for one of the conflicting views expressed in the debate.

The first section of “Onassis Health Day 2019” is centred on and inspired by genetics. Setting out on a journey through the wonders of the human genome and the prospect of personalized medicine, this section explores the role of the environment and the concept of epigenetics—a method for altering the way in which genes express themselves. This is followed by an examination of the social stigma which could potentially accrue to such practices, along with other societal reactions to genetic diagnoses. The section will end with a debate on the desire to change the gene code—a treatment which, though powerful, naturally has its limits.The second section turns to one of the most significant public health challenges of our times: organ donation and transplantation. A challenge which lies at the very core of the Onassis Foundation's work in the sphere of Health in the light of the recent announcement of the upcoming creation of the Onassis National Transplant Center. The issues addressed in this section include the concept of brain death, a presentation of the challenges facing the family of potential donors, and the prospects for tissue engineering and 3D printing. The section culminates in a debate on the social nature of organ donation and whether the act of becoming an organ donor constitutes “an exchange or an act of solidarity”.The third and final section tackles the challenges posed to healthcare by the fourth industrial revolution. What is the impact on the diagnosis and treatment of patients? How can we ensure a patient gets the right treatment at the right time? Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its uses, robots performing surgery, analyzing large data sets in search of new uses for drugs, eliminating distances separating doctors and patients and monitoring patients and their vital signs remotely will all be discussed in this section, which will end by posing a central question for our times: “Artificial Intelligence: Opportunity or Peril?” for debate.

A talk by Angelos Anastasiadis, the head coach of the Greek national football team, is expected to be one of the high points of the event. In it, he will talk about his wife Vivi Kipourou's recent health scare, describing both the transplantation procedure itself and the agony of waiting for a suitable donor organ to come along.