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Fotis Topouzis, MD, PhD

My professional path in ophthalmology began at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where I obtained my medical degree in 1986. Further academic training followed in Paris, with a Master of Science in Economic and Social Science in Health from the University of Paris VII and a PhD in Psychophysics from the Democritus University of Thrace.

I completed my residency at the Saint-Antoine Hospital and Quinze-Vingts French National Centre of Ophthalmology in Paris, France where I subsequently undertook a fellowship in Comprehensive Ophthalmology and Cornea. In addition, I completed a fellowship in glaucoma at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles with my mentors Anne L. Coleman and M. Roy Wilson. During this time, I was honoured to receive the Glaucoma Research Foundation Fellowship Award.

Currently, I serve as Professor and Chair of the 1^st Department of Ophthalmology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA University Hospital, and as Head and Founder of the Laboratory of Research and Clinical Applications in Ophthalmology. My academic and clinical interests include the epidemiology, clinical, and genetic aspects of major ophthalmic diseases, with particular focus on glaucoma.

I have been the Principal Investigator of two large population-based studies, the Thessaloniki Eye Study and the Eureye Study and have led more than 35 clinical research projects. My scholarly activity includes over 179 peer-reviewed publications with more than 87,000 citations (h-index 62). I serve as Associate Editor of the Journal of Glaucoma and on the editorial boards of seven ophthalmology journals. Over the years, I have delivered more than 500 invited lectures worldwide, including keynote addresses at the Societas Ophthalmologica Europaea (SOE), and at the Italian Glaucoma Societies (AISG and SIGLA) and Argentinian Societies of Ophthalmology, among others.

I have had the privilege to serve as President of the European Glaucoma Society and President of the Greek Glaucoma Society, as well as a member of the Board of Governors of the World Glaucoma Association. I am an elected member of the American Ophthalmological Society (AOS) where in 2019 I presented my AOS Thesis. Moreover, I am an elected member of the Glaucoma Research Society, and the Académie Nationale de Chirurgie in France.

Participation in the WGA community continues to be a source of great professional inspiration and collaboration. As the President-Elect of the World Glaucoma Association, my goal is to strengthen the organization’s role as a global leader in glaucoma education and innovation, guiding the field toward the next steps in precision medicine through the integration of artificial intelligence, genetics, neuroregeneration and advanced imaging technologies.