Dr. Theoklis Zaoutis

Dr. Theoklis Zaoutis joined Columbia Global Centers | Athens as director in October 2023, bringing over 30 years of experience as an academic leader, researcher, clinician and public health expert.

Zaoutis most recently served as the president of Greece's National Public Health Organization from 2021-2023. In this role, he provided strategic direction and oversight for Greece's national public health agency, which employs over 1,000 staff. He led the organization's COVID-19 response and facilitated partnerships with organizations including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Prior to this position, Zaoutis was professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, where he served in various leadership roles for 18 years. He directed the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He also founded and directed the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness Research.

Zaoutis has held numerous esteemed leadership positions in the field of pediatric infectious diseases. He chaired the Infectious Diseases Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics and served on the Board of Directors for the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

His research focuses on antimicrobial resistance, healthcare-associated infections, standardized treatment approaches, and improving access to care. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers and received continuous National Institutes of Health funding for over a decade. In addition to his appointments at Penn and the Greek health organization, Zaoutis has served as professor of pediatrics at the University of Athens School of Medicine and as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Zaoutis completed his B.S. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, his M.D. at Thomas Jefferson University, and a Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his numerous honors, Zaoutis is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and has received the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology Pediatric Investigator Award.

At Columbia Global Centers | Athens, Zaoutis provides strategic direction and oversees programs focused on global health, migration, and other pressing issues. He fosters research collaborations between Columbia University and institutions across Europe while connecting the Global Center to policymakers and international organizations based in Athens.