A Mighty Mentor and Master of Medical Research

“People obtain awards for changing one person's life. Vassilis Zannis has changed the lives of more than 250 people by promoting our careers and instilling values of excellence in our brains and souls.” So concludes the nomination we received urging us to confer the Antonios Kounalakis Award on Dr. Vassilis Zannis. As we delved into Dr. Zannis’s research, published works, courses taught, and other scientific and educational contributions made during the past fifty years, we quickly understood that in fact Dr. Zannis has directly and positively impacted the lives of countless people — tens of thousands, at a minimum — through his dedication to core scientific and humanitarian values. That is why we are delighted to announce Dr. Vassilis Zannis as this month’s Antonios Kounalakis Award winner!

Dr. Zannis began his career at the Academy of Merchant Marine of Aspropyrgos, stepping into leadership roles which

allowed him to study while working and traveling with the Hellenic Merchant Marines. Next, he earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Athens, receiving a scholarship to immediately thereafter pursue a PhD in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Postdoctoral work at the St. Francis University School of Medicine, MIT, and Harvard University Medical School followed, and in 1982 he became an assistant professor at Harvard University Medical School. Recruited by the Boston University School of Medicine only two years later, Dr. Zannis became a leading researcher and instructor in the field of molecular medicine and was promoted to professor in 1987.

Publish or perish? Isn’t that the threat of academia? No concern whatsoever for Dr. Zannis. He has had 162 original works published in international journals; contributed 47 reviews of and chapters to books; and has so far had more than 15,000 references to his published work. His research has contributed to the understanding of the relationship among lipoprotein metabolism, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease. During his Boston University tenure, his funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, American Heart Association, Diabetes Association, and other heavy hitters has averaged $600k per annum. His research has been so impactful that he has been invited to lecture at international conferences and join research program evaluation committees in the U.S. and Europe. Additionally, he has served as a primary mentor to graduate students throughout his entire career.

Although Dr. Zannis enjoys great acclaim in the U.S. and Europe, he has never forgotten where he came from. Beginning in 1985, he took on leadership roles at the University of Crete School of Medicine, even contributing to the design of the research laboratories there and to a model postgraduate program equivalent to the U.S.’s MD/PhD program. He has striven to support both beginning and established scientists in pursuing excellence in their field, and even pioneered a summer training program at Boston University specifically designed to nurture and guide medical students from the University of Crete into meaningful careers.

“I still remember him at midnight working in his office in Crete,” Dr. Zannis’s nominator says, “writing the regulations of a new postgraduate program which was adapted to the modern needs of medical graduates for research training. What, apart from being an important scientist, makes him a special person is his ethos that emerges through the modesty he has shown. I remember the interest and personal time he had in matters related to the settlement of the students who came from Crete to Boston in the summer. I will also not forget when, invited to a conference in Greece as a keynote speaker, he asked to change the business class ticket he had been offered to an economy class ticket and to allocate the difference in money to the fund of the medical student exchange program of the University of Crete and Boston University.”

Dr. Zannis, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the contributions you have made — and continue to make — not only in scientific research and medicine but in the lives of eager students, researchers, and medical practitioners here in the U.S., in Greece, and everywhere else you have traveled and worked. Your curiosity, dedication, and humility are a testament to what is possible for all of us. Your legacy will continue through the generations to come, as those you have attentively guided and nurtured go on to impact our world through their own research, practice, and mentorship of others. It gives us great joy to present you with the Antonios Kounalakis Award!