His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki

Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki studied Physics at the University of Thessaloniki, Astrophysics at Harvard (Master of Arts), Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering), and Biomedical Technology (Ph.D., Harvard–MIT). He worked as a researcher and scientific associate in various Boston hospitals, in the field of the hemodynamics of the heart and blood vessels. At the same time, for three years he served as scientific consultant to renowned companies on issues of Aerospace Medical Technology.

He also studied Theology at the Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston (Master in Theological Studies and Master of Theology). He holds a doctorate in Social Theology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a focus on Bioethics. He is an honorary doctor of the Department of Social Theology of the University of Athens, Panteion University, and the University of West Attica.

In 1993 he founded the first Center of Biomedical Ethics and Deontology in Greece, of which he has since been president, and from 1998 to the present he has been president of the Bioethics Committee of the Church of Greece. In 2010 he founded the first Palliative Care unit in Greece under the name GALILEE.

For five years he served as a member of the National Council for Research and Technology; for seven years as a member of the National Ethics Committee of the National Organization for Medicines (EOF); and for twenty years as a member of the National Transplant Organization, as well as of other scientific committees and charitable organizations. His priestly path began on Mount Athos and continued at the Athonite Metochion of the Ascension in Athens, where he served for 14 years. He was elected Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki in 2004.