ESOT Congress 2023: The world's leading congress on transplantation was held in Greece for the first time, with the support of the Onassis Foundation

3,000 participants from 82 countries, for 4 days.

ESOT Congress 2023, the international, top-tier scientific congress on transplantation was held from the 17th to the 20th of September at the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, with the support of the Onassis Foundation. The aim of the congress was to highlight the latest developments in the field of transplantation, as well as emphasizing the need to raise awareness for the further development of organ donation.

Photo: Pinelopi Gerasimou

For four days, more than 3,000 delegates from 82 countries from all over the world came together in Athens to discuss, explore, present, and inspire, at a crossroads where cutting-edge scientific developments met real-life stories.With the support of the Onassis Foundation and the participation of distinguished physicians and researchers, nurses, as well as patients and transplant recipients from all over the world, ESOT Congress 2023 provided a unique opportunity for Greece to be at the center of global developments in the field of organ donation and transplantation and to promote the exchange of know-how and scientific innovation: Ranging from telemedicine and precise real-time measurement of transplant recipient blood pressure to state-of-the-art machines for graft maintenance and optimization, digital transformation and innovative medical record management software, the latest surgical techniques, and the innovative treatments of patients to the overwhelming experiences of their transplant journey.

The Onassis Foundation had a strong presence at this important scientific congress, with an info point that was open throughout the event, where visitors had the opportunity to learn about the multidimensional work it has carried out in the field of transplantation through the National Initiative for the modernization and general transformation of the organ donation culture in Greece. At the same time, in the framework of the congress, the best abstract on the Digital Transformation in Transplantation was awarded according to the decision of the ESOT Scientific Committee.

Highlights of the congress

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Photo: Pinelopi Gerasimou

The info point of Onassis Foundation at the ESOT Congress 2023

The participation of Onassis Foundation at the ESOT Congress 2023

The Onassis Foundation's participation in the ESOT Congress is an important link in the chain of life of the National Initiative it has undertaken, as it has contributed significantly to networking Greece with the most important scientists, researchers and business organizations from the transplantation field worldwide. As Effie Tsiotsiou, Executive Director and Director of Education of the Onassis Foundation, explains: "Our participation in the ESOT Congress 2023, the world's most iconic congress on transplantation and organ donation, is a very important development, which affirms the Onassis Foundation’s leading role in this major national effort. With the aid of the Hellenic Transplantation Organization and the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, the Onassis Foundation has been implementing a holistic intervention for the promotion and fostering of transplantation education and culture in Greece for almost four years now, carrying out many different actions to fundamentally change the transplantation landscape in our country".

The importance of the ESOT Congress for Greece and the participation of the Onassis Foundation in it was explained by Ioannis Boletis, co-chairman of the congress and President of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center: "It is of great importance that an internationally renowned and prominent congress, such as the ESOT Congress, was held in our country. The total number of registrations exceeded 3,000, with participants coming from 82 countries, while the Greek participation was the second most numerous, after that of the United Kingdom. Taking into account the difference in population between the two countries, one realizes the importance of the fact that a very large number of Greek physicians and scientists from the field of transplantation and organ donation attended the congress".