Athens University honors Professor Jeffrey Drazen
The hall of ceremonies at Athens University was more crowded than usual with professors who had come to attend the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate of the university’s Medical School on Professor Jeffrey Drazen from Harvard Medical School. Drazen is also the publisher of The New England Journal of Medicine, a leading medical journal – «our bible,» said Haralambos Roussos, professor of pulmonary diseases and intensive care at Athens University, director of the intensive care unit at Evangelismos Hospital and president of the Thorax Foundation, who introduced his colleague and friend Professor Drazen. Roussos spoke about the American professor as a doctor, researcher and friend of Greece. Drazen has worked with two Nobel Prize winners on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Athens University Vice Rector Michalis Dermitzakis made the address, Athens Medical School Dean Christos Kittas handed over the honorary doctorate, and the recipient donned his official robes. Then Drazen delivered his address, «Issues in Medical Publishing,» on personal rivalries, entanglements and vested interests. Athens University Rector Giorgos Babiniotis held a reception in honor of Drazen, attended by Health Minister Costas Stefanis and other notables.
