Dimitris Kontopidis is a Patient Advocate, social entrepreneur, with an MSc in Health Management. The first studies were connected to design, Graduated in Graphic Design (UNIWA), attended courses at the School of Fine Arts in Madrid, and continued in Architecture at (NTUA). Since 2010, he has continued training as a Patient Advocate ( Cystic Fibrosis patient). At the same time, he continued with a postgraduate specialization in social entrepreneurship & solidarity economy and was trained in most incubators/accelerators of the Startup ecosystem in Greece. He is currently a graduate of the MSc “Leadership, Innovation and Value Policies in Health” at the Department of Public Health of (UNIWA).
For the last 12 years, he has been actively involved in the formulation of Health policy, as a representative of patients participating in international and national organizations. Today is the President of the European Foundation for Respiratory Diseases “ELF” he is the Digital Health Cjair of the Greek Patients Association, a member of the committee of the National Cystic Fibrosis Registry, of the National Registry and Committee of Rare Diseases, while he was also Vice President of the European Association for Cystic Fibrosis CF Europe. In 2019 he was awarded as Patient Advocate 2019 by the (CFEurope) for his contribution to changing the map of Cystic Fibrosis in Greece, while in 2021 he was awarded the ELF AWARD by the European Respiratory Community for his decisive contribution to accessing the revolutionary treatment for Cystic Fibrosis through his shocking refusal of a lung transplant. He is also the founder of Patients Hub the first innovation and patient empowerment hub in Greece. where patients are included in each project as key members of the interdisciplinary team of personalized design social projects (design thinking/UI/UX Design).