The 11th SYFAK Conference was successfully concluded, held in Heraklion, Crete, on 14 and 15 September 2024, with the participation of the Department of Pharmacy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, which presented the Health Hub initiative. Within the framework of the conference, professors from the Department of Pharmacy of NKUA presented the latest developments in the use of new digital technologies in the fields of health and pharmaceutical care.
On 14 and 15 September 2024, the Cooperative of Pharmacists of the Aegean and Crete (SYFAK) held its 11th conference at the Atlantis Hotel in Heraklion, Crete. During the conference, professors from the Department of Pharmacy of NKUA and representatives of Health Hub, Mr. Konstantinos Demetzos (Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology) and Mr. Evangelos Karalis (Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy – Pharmacokinetics), presented the latest advances in the application of digital technologies in pharmaceutical care and the health sector more broadly. The presentation of the Health Hub initiative by the Department of Pharmacy of NKUA consisted of: a) two keynote speeches, b) the organization and moderation of two roundtable discussions, and c) additional presentations within the roundtable sessions. More specifically, the conference opened with a presentation by Professor Demetzos, who focused on the role of artificial intelligence and new therapeutic products.
Subsequently, the Associate Professor continued with a presentation on artificial intelligence, spanning from drug development to clinical practice. In both presentations, the role of Health Hub was highlighted within the broader effort to drive the digital transformation of healthcare in Greece. This was followed by a roundtable discussion entitled “Pharmacist–patient relationships in the new emerging reality,” moderated by Mr. Karalis. In his talk titled “From drug research and development to the patient: the model of the digital world,” he also referred to the role of the Health Hub initiative and the activities implemented within the framework of the country’s digital transformation. In addition, current developments and applications in anti-aging within the health sector were discussed through a roundtable session featuring speakers from Professor Demetzos’ research team (Dr. N. Naziris, PhD candidate M. Tsakiri, PhD candidate I. Tsichlis).
It is worth noting that the conference was attended by 645 participants, while among those present were the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Marios Themistokleous, the President of the Hellenic Red Cross, all pharmaceutical associations of Crete, as well as numerous public and private organizations from Greece and Cyprus.
Coverage of the conference outcomes was provided by official pharmaceutical-sector publications (such as Farmakeftikos Kosmos) and regional organizations in Crete.
