A new chapter for mental health and pediatric cardiac surgery in Greece, powered by collaboration

At the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), fostering partnership and synergy among our grantee-partners and with others is one of our top priorities, and we believe firmly in the transformative power and positive multiplier effects of these partnerships.

In this spirit, immediately following SNF Nostos 2022, we organized a visit to Northern Greece focusing on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) and the three new hospitals under construction as part of SNF’s Global Health Initiative (GHI). The visit was attended by mental health experts from CAMHI’s hub center in Alexandroupoli, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center of Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University, and the Child Mind Institute, all of whom are our close partners and leaders of pioneering programs that we support under the umbrella of the GHI. The visit was an opportunity to exchange experiences and develop ideas for possible transatlantic collaborations to promote research and education, as well as to strengthen efforts for scientific advancement in the field of psychiatry.

Three years later, at the initiative of Aspasia Serdari, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Democritus University of Thrace and a member of the CAMHI Scientific Steering Committee, and in the context of our collaboration with co-directors of the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University Dr. Joseph Gogos and Dr. Steven Kushner as well as the Center’s Chief of Staff, Brian Chapman, this idea began to take shape and bear fruit.

Aspasia Serdari, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Democritus University of Thrace and a member of the CAMHI Scientific Steering Committee

Dr. Joseph Gogos, Co-director of the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University

Dr. Steven Kushner, Co-director of the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University

Brian Chapman, Chief of Staff the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University

The result was the submission of a proposal for the organization and implementation of a joint Postgraduate Study Program, within the framework of a call by the Hellenic Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports for the “internationalization of higher education institutions’ educational services” under the “Universities of Excellence” project funded by the EU’s “Greece 2.0” Recovery and Resilience Facility.

In September 2025, the proposal was approved, paving the way for a new collaboration between Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) and Columbia University for the creation of an innovative postgraduate program of studies in Greece and internationally focused exclusively on the field of precision medicine in the area of mental health development. The new program, titled Precision Medicine in the Development of Mental Health, will be carried out as part of the Democritus University of Thrace’s curriculum, in coordination with the University Child Psychiatric Clinic at the University General Hospital of Alexandroupoli and the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry and Mental Health at Columbia University.

All of us at SNF are particularly proud of this development, which is a milestone for the field of mental health, setting new standards for the academic and scientific community in Greece and internationally. This initiative will contribute significantly to the emergence of Greece as a center of innovation with international reach in the field of precision medicine in mental health, highlighting the dynamic impact of partnerships that enhance the exchange of expertise and collaboration between health professionals. Following online meetings and preparatory work, the first in-person working visit from Columbia University and the SNF Center to the DUTH Medical School in Alexandroupolis took place in October 2025, marking the start of the process to get the international postgraduate program up and running. More information about the program will be announced in the coming months by the participating universities.

During the same period, the third working visit of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and Columbia University Irving Medical Center team took place in Northern Greece—specifically in Thessaloniki—as part of a collaboration with the Hellenic Ministry of Health and the School of Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, for the development and future operation of a comprehensive program to provide pediatric cardiac surgery and pediatric cardiology services at the SNF University Pediatric Hospital of Thessaloniki. Under the leadership of Dr. Emile Bacha, Chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at NYP/Columbia, and Dr. Christopher Petit, Chief of Pediatric Cardiology, the NYP/Columbia team held a series of meetings with their counterpart working group set up by the Greek government to jointly plan the next steps in critical areas of the project.

From developing an innovative international postgraduate program to establishing a comprehensive pediatric cardiac surgery center in Thessaloniki, these programs reinforce SNF’s ongoing commitment under the GHI to foster partnerships with a meaningful, long-term impact, laying the foundations for a high-quality, innovative, and accessible health care system for all.