Doctor Nikolaos I. Dervenis, MD, MSc, PhD, FEBO, returned to Greece in spring 2021 after several years of training in the UK. He holds the title of the Honorary Clinical Fellow of the University of Liverpool with which he continues to have an active research collaboration in a series of studies related to retinal diseases. For two years (2021-23) he was an Academic Scholar of the First University Ophthalmology Clinic at AHEPA Hospital – one of the Heads of the Vitreous / Retina/ Macular service and one of the responsible surgeons for the surgical training of residents in the modern phacoemulsification techniques using latest technology (premium) intraocular lenses. The doctor divides his time professionally between Thessaloniki and Larissa.
The doctor grew up in the city of Tyrnavos, Thessaly, and completed primary and secondary education in the city’s schools. He succeeded in Panhellenic exams to study at the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (AUTH) in 2000 where he completed his studies (2006). He returned to Tyrnavos to fulfill the rural service (Health Center of Tyrnavos, Regional Clinic of Verdikousia, Larissa) and, after completing the mandatory military service, specialized in Ophthalmology both in Greece (General Hospital of Xanthi, University Hospital of Larissa) and in two tertiary hospitals in the UK that are reference centers for the wider regions (St James’s University Hospital, Leeds and the Western Eye Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London). During his training, the doctor completed the necessary fundamental training in all subspecialties of ophthalmology (retina, cornea, glaucoma, uveitis, neuro-ophthalmology, adnexal, pediatric ophthalmology) according to the standards of the British portfolio for trainees.
After obtaining both the Greek and the European specialty title, he returned to the UK for additional training and had the opportunity to work in some of the country’s leading eye centers. He was trained at Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton (glaucoma and cataract fellow), Moorfields Eye Hospital in London (cataract fellow), Peterborough City Hospitals in Peterborough and St Paul’s Eye Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospital in Liverpool (vitreoretinal surgery fellow). For almost a year he held the title of the locum consultant of the NHS at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. During his seven-year stay in the UK, he performed more than 1,500 cataract surgeries and more than 500 vitreoretinal surgeries while he gained extensive experience in the conservative and surgical treatment of a wide range of eye diseases.
In addition to his medical degree, he holds a Master’s degree with honors in Medical Research Methodology from the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2009). In 2019 he was awarded a PhD with honors (on ocular blood flow and retinal vessel diameters in a population-based setting) in Ophthalmology by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Medical School. He was honored with a scholarship by the Hellenic Vitreous / Retinal Society as he was among the leaders in the ophthalmology examinations of the European Board of Ophthalmology (2014). For many years he has been an active collaborator of the Laboratory of Research and Clinical Applications in Ophthalmology of the First University Ophthalmology Clinic of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and one of the researchers of the Thessaloniki Eye Study, the largest epidemiological ophthalmological study conducted in Greece on glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. He is a contributor to the Global Burden of Diseases, the most important epidemiological study on the global population’s health (including related eye diseases).
The doctor has published more than 55 articles in international and national peer reviewed journals with over 20,000 citations. He has presented more than 50 free papers / posters in international and national congresses. He has participated as a co-investigator in more than 15 clinical trials in Ophthalmology in the UK and in Greece. He is also a reviewer in more than 10 international ophthalmological journals and has participated in the Greek translation of the second edition of the Moorfields Manual of Ophthalmology (2019, University Studio Press, ISBN: 978-960-12-2457-2).