The wisdom and eudaimonia of Paediatrics: An interview with Professor George P. Chrousos, Professor of Paediatrics and Endocrinology at the University of Athens, Greece

Professor George P. Chrousos, Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics and Endocrinology at the University of Athens School of Medicine, in Athens, Greece, is the most distinguished Professor of Paediatrics in the modern history of Hellenic Paediatrics and among the 100 most prominent clinical investigators worldwide. According to Professor Chrousos, viruses frequently interact with the host endocrine signaling pathways, while stress triggers acutely an early inflammatory response termed ‘neurogenic inflammation’. Soon after, however, stress suppresses innate immunity and causes a shift from T-helper 1- to T-helper 2- driven immunity. The natural history of the response to a viral infection is for immune and stress changes to take place in a highly coordinated process that results in the full return to the basal health state. He believes that over the past decades, our armamentarium against viruses has increased significantly as novel anti-viral agents, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines, have been and are continually being developed. Professor Chrousos declares that Paediatrics is a very broad scientific field, where paediatric trainees have many avenues to follow beyond clinical practice and into basic, preclinical, translational, clinical, applied, or epidemiologic research. He supports that researching and producing new knowledge to the benefit of humanity is a product of practicing Aristotle's ancient Greek virtues and a worthy cause of life's meaning. He completes our interview calling young paediatricians to ‘listen to their minds and hearts’ to select a life course that would lead them to acquire personal wisdom and eudaimonia.