Mr Christos Kontovounisios is a colorectal surgeon specialising in advanced colorectal cancer, pelvic exenterative and robotic surgery. He trained and worked for over a decade in leading London institutions, including the Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

He is currently Director of the 2nd Surgical Department at HYGEIA Hospital in Athens, where he leads a specialised unit focusing on complex colorectal and pelvic malignancies, including locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer.

He holds an academic appointment as Adjunct Professor of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and is Visiting Reader at Imperial College London. He also serves as Visiting Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He obtained his PhD from the University of Athens and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) and the American College of Surgeons (FACS).

His research focuses on colorectal cancer, surgical innovation, and outcomes in complex pelvic surgery. He has authored over 230 peer-reviewed publications, with more than 9,000 citations and an H-index of 42. He serves as International Editor of Surgery.

He is actively involved in European and national clinical guideline development and health policy, including roles within the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) and the European Commission Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (ECICC).

Awards, Honours & Academic Distinctions

2025

• Best Oral Presentation Award, IOCCM 2025 Conference
  Title: Preliminary results comparing a WHO diet versus a low-fat diet in gallstone disease and their impact on quality of life
• 1st Prize, Hellenic Journal of Surgery & Surgery
  Title: Perioperative outcomes and morbidity following pelvic exenteration surgery: a single-centre experience
• Best Abstract Award (Supplementary Issue), Hellenic Journal of Surgery
  Title: Small intestinal tumours: histopathological findings of enterectomy specimens – a ten-year experience from a tertiary surgical centre in Greece and review of the literature

2024

• 1st Prize – Best Video Presentation, 16th Greek-Cypriot Surgical Conference, Cyprus

2022

• Service Development Award, British Society of Gastroenterology
  Title: The one-stop ileoanal pouch surgery clinic: a multidisciplinary patient-centred approach
• Visiting Professor (2021–2022), Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy

2021

• 1st Prize – Best Oral Presentation, 9th Dilemmas & Debates in Colorectal Surgery, London, UK
  Title: The role of 3D modelling technology in the recognition of colorectal tumour deposits
• 1st Prize – Best Oral Presentation (KARL STORZ Award), 29th International EAES Congress, Barcelona, Spain
  Title: The role of 3D modelling technology in the recognition of colorectal tumour deposits

2020

• Winner, Colorectal Surgery Team, Royal Marsden Staff Awards
• 1st Prize – Best Oral Presentation, 28th International EAES Congress, Kraków, Poland
  Title: A new perspective on N1c: the use of 3D modelling to depict extranodal tumour deposits in rectal cancer

2019

• 2nd Prize – Abstract Presentation, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Montreal, Canada
  Title: Soft haptics for the simulation of physical examinations: a case study for sphincter tone rendering

2018

• Best Publication of the Year, ESCP / Colorectal Disease
  Title: The effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on survival and recurrence after curative rectal cancer surgery in patients who are histologically node-negative after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
• Charles M. Balch MD Endowed International Fellowship in Surgical Oncology, Johns Hopkins Department of Surgery

2014

• Eugene N. Bricker Award, Society of Pelvic Surgeons Annual Meeting
  Title: Comparison of technique and long-term outcomes of hand-sewn coloanal anastomosis for low rectal cancer

2012

• Best Publication Award, Hellenic Surgical Society
  Title: Dehiscence, stenosis and local recurrence after anterior resection in relation to the level of rectal cancer: a systematic review

2008

• Best Scientific Presentation Award, Hellenic Surgical Society, 26th Panhellenic Congress of Surgery
  Title: Early steroid withdrawal in liver transplantation: a meta-analysis and meta-regression of outcomes

Membership of Professional Bodies

• Member, Athens Medical Association
• Member, Hungarian Medical Association
• Member, Hellenic Surgical Society
• Member, Medical Association of Cyprus
• Member, European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP)
• Member, Cypriot Surgical Association
• Member, European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (EAES)
• Member, Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI)
• Member, Greek Society of Coloproctology