The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (Order of AHEPA) will donate $30,000 to an Athens-based research center working to support the public health of the people of Greece in response to the coronavirus pandemic, announced Supreme President George G. Horiates.

AHEPA’s donation to the Center for Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO) will contribute to the development and implementation of a robust on-the-ground training program for healthcare professionals working in the newly established COVID-19 primary care centers and COVID-19-dedicated hospitals in Greece. In addition, AHEPA’s donation will back time-sensitive and vital research on the spread of COVID-19 in Greece through data collection and biostatistical analysis performed at CLEO.

Dr. Theoklis Zaoutis, who founded CLEO in 2011, will lead the research. He also serves in an advisory role at Greece’s Ministry of Health where he has played an integral part of the ministry’s outbreak management team and contributed to the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He also  has served as ministry’s spokesperson.

“AHEPA and the people of Greece are fortunate to have Dr. Zaoutis serving the medical and public health profession during this time of crisis,” Horiates said. “AHEPA is proud to back his research.”

Dr. Zaoutis, is a member of Hercules-Spartan Chapter 26, Philadelphia. He is also a professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and is a member of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“We were so impressed that Dr. Zaoutis would go to Greece and fill this vital role,” Horiates said. “He is one in a series of examples of Ahepans who are dedicated professionals, essential service employees, or volunteers worldwide that are working for the public good. This strong desire to help our communities is what drives Ahepans.”

About the Center for Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO)

CLEO’s mission is to improve patient safety and the quality of healthcare services provided by Greek hospitals, with emphasis on the prevention of hospital-acquired infections and the promotion of judicious antibiotic use.  With the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of Dr. Zaoutis’ work and the public’s focus on it, has increased significantly.

• To learn more about CLEO, please visit http://www.cleoresearch.org/en/

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Founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe. 

AHEPA’s mission is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence through community service and volunteerism. 

For more information, please visit www.ahepa.org.