October 2016
Anton Valavanis was born in 1952 in Athens, Greece. He obtained his medical degree in 1977 and completed his residency in radiology, including training in neuroradiology, at the Department of Radiology of the University Hospital of Zurich. In 1985, he introduced MR-neuroimaging at the University Hospital of Zurich.
He started his career as Assistant Professor in 1984 and obtained full professorship at the chair of neuroradiology in 1994. The same year, he founded the Institute of Neuroradiology at the University of Zurich, and has been its Chairman ever since.
In the early eighties, he started developing and applying endovascular techniques for the treatment of CNS and head and neck vascular and neoplastic lesions. The Institute of Neuroradiology at the University Hospital of Zurich is recognised as one of the leading centres of interventional neuroradiology worldwide.
Since 1982, he has been a member of the governing council of the Neuroscience Center Zurich and ETH Zurich and later co-founded the Clinical Neuroscience Center at the University Hospital Zurich, where he currently serves as Chair of the governing council. He is also a founding member of the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology, the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology and other prestigious organisations.
A dedicated researcher, his leadership abilities have been recognised by his peers both nationally and internationally. He served as President of the World Federation of Neuroradiological Societies from 1997 to 2002 and has been President of the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology since 2001. He served in the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the Committees on Interventional Neuroradiology and Head and Neck of the European Society of Neuroradiology, and also chairs the Scientific Programme and Scientific Award Committee of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology.
Over the years, he has received numerous honours for his outstanding work, including the Scientific Award of the German, Swiss and European societies of neuroradiology and the James Bull Medal of the British Society of Neuroradiologists. He has been awarded Honorary Membership of the Hellenic Radiological and Neurosurgical societies, and of the Italian Society of Neuroradiology. He holds honorary directorships at the neuroradiology departments of the International Neuroscience Institutes of Hannover, Germany, and Beijing, China.
He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Neuroradiologia Helvetica, and was the Editor-in-Chief of Neuroradiology from 1991 to 2005. He is also a member of the editorial board of various journals on neuroradiology, neurosurgery and skull base surgery.
He has authored or co-authored 200 original scientific publications and two books, 'Clinical lmaging of the Cerebellopontine Angle' and 'Interventional Neuroradiology'.
In addition to his prolific research, he has lectured extensively and has been invited to give more than 400 lectures all around the world. He was notably President of the 17th Congress of the European Society of Neuroradiology, the International Congress of Head and Neck Radiology and the 1st Congress of the World Federation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Neuroradiology, Zurich in 1991. In 1992 he founded the 'Zurich Course on Interventional Neuroradiology', which has been held annually ever since and is recognised as one of the premier educational activities in the field. He has recently been honoured as the inaugural lecturer for the 'M. Gazi and Dianne Yasargil Lectureship' by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, US. He will be Vice-President of the Symposium Neuroradiologicum in Venice in 2010.
Prof. Valavanis is married to Dr. Susanne Valavanis-Bürli and has two daughters.
In recognition of his unique contributions to neuroradiology, Professor Anton Valavanis will present the Hans Rudolf Schinz Honorary Lecture 'Hippocratic encephalocentrism versus Aristotelian cardiocentrism in modern neuroradiology' at ECR 2009.
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