Department of Anatomy
Medical School - University of Crete
Special Issue
"Microbiota in Colorectal Cancer"
Guest EditorsProf. Dr. John Tsiaoussis
Associate Professor of Anatomy, Department of Anatomy
Prof. Dr. John Souglakos
Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology
The lab / History
The history of the Laboratory of Anatomy begins with its establishment in 1988, under the leadership of its first Director, Associate Professor Georgios Antonakopoulos. Together with Assistant Professor Theodoros Kalopisis, he served as one of the Laboratory’s first two faculty members.
In 1990, Ioannis Siatitsas was appointed Associate Professor of Anatomy. He assumed the Directorship of the Laboratory of Anatomy in 1991, following the election and appointment of G. Antonakopoulos as a Professor at the School of Medicine of the University of Thessaly. In 1997, Athanasios Karabelas was elected Associate Professor of Neuroanatomy (he retired in 2011), and in 1998, Georgios Tzanakakis was elected Associate Professor of Anatomy. Subsequently, Petros Myrillas was elected Assistant Professor of Anatomy in 2002 (he moved to the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2007), and Konstantinos Paspalas was elected Assistant Professor of Neuroanatomy in 2005; the latter remained a member of the Laboratory until 2010, when he accepted an academic position at a university in the USA. In 2010, G. Tzanakakis was promoted to Professor of Anatomy-Histology and assumed the directorship of the Laboratory, following the retirement of I. Siatitsas. In 2013, following his election, Dr. Ioannis Tsiaousis was appointed Assistant Professor of Anatomy. In 2019, he was promoted to Associate Professor of Anatomy, and in 2021, he assumed the Directorship of the Anatomy Laboratory at the University of Crete’s School of Medicine; he was subsequently promoted to the rank of Professor in 2023. Professor Ioannis Tsiaousis was re-elected as Director of the Laboratory in June 2024, for the term spanning September 1, 2024, to August 31, 2027. Other faculty members (DEP) of the Laboratory include Assistant Professor E. Drakonaki (appointed 2021) and Assistant Professor Chr. Tsitsipanis (appointed 2025). The Laboratory’s staff also includes V. Kokkinaki (ETEP member since 2005), as well as various instructors appointed on a temporary basis (I. Gerogiannis, I. Koliarakis).
The Anatomy Laboratory has provided, and continues to provide, the largest volume of educational activity within the School of Medicine. Over the last decade, as part of an effort to harmonize teaching activities across the various subfields of Anatomy, educational groups have been established. These groups consist of students who have demonstrated high academic performance in Anatomy courses. Members of these groups provide supplementary teaching support during laboratory sessions attended by younger cohorts of students. As noted in the Medical School’s Study Guide, “…a decision by the School’s General Assembly has institutionalized the assignment of supplementary teaching duties—within the context of laboratory sessions—to undergraduate students, under the designation ‘Supplementary Teaching Work by Undergraduate Students’ (DEPROFOIT).”
To date, the anatomical model laboratory—a dedicated space featuring high-quality anatomical models—has played a central role in students' laboratory training. In this setting, students receive instruction from specialized staff on the descriptive and topographical anatomy of specific regions of the human body. The analysis of clinical scenarios—which aligns with the focus on clinical anatomy—contributes to the consolidation of knowledge acquired during laboratory sessions. Since 2020, a portion of the laboratory work has been conducted in the virtual anatomy suite, utilizing innovative educational tools such as virtual dissection on digital anatomy tables and 3D visualization. More recently, this framework has been expanded to include ultrasound applications (through dedicated seminars) and virtual reality (VR) in the teaching of anatomy. The creation of a modern Anatomy Facility—designed to accommodate, among other functions, the dissection of human cadavers—became a priority in 2014, the year in which the relevant studies were prepared (under Rector Evripidis Stefanou). In 2017, it was decided that the construction would be funded through the "Hellenic Universities I" program, supported by the National Bank of Greece (NBG) and the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs (under Rector Odysseas Zoras); the facility was completed in 2021. The majority of its equipment was acquired in 2025 via the "Universities of Excellence" program (under Rector Georgios Kontakis). The remaining equipment was secured through the existing infrastructure of the Anatomy Laboratory, funding from the Region of Crete (under Regional Governor Stavros Arnaoutakis), revenue generated by the Anatomy Laboratory through its participation in the International Undergraduate Medical Program, as well as donations from various organizations (e.g., "Agkalia-ZO") and private individuals. The development of a modern Body Donation Protocol is currently underway, led by the Laboratory Director, Professor I. Tsiaousis, in collaboration with the University’s Legal Department and an external legal consultant—as such a framework is currently absent from Greek legislation.
The performance of cadaveric dissections—contingent upon the recruitment of appropriate technical and scientific staff—will serve as a cornerstone of laboratory-based training for our undergraduate students (in both the Greek-language and international programs). It will facilitate the advancement of specific sub-disciplines within Anatomy, establishing a vital infrastructure for undergraduate and postgraduate studies within the School and the University at large. Furthermore, the Anatomy facility—equipped with the necessary instrumentation—will provide significant impetus for the development of postgraduate programs and seminars. It will also bolster the research activities of faculty members—an area already yielding notable success—by attracting new doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers seeking to gain extensive experience in the Laboratory’s research protocols. These protocols focus primarily on the study of biomarkers for colorectal cancer, as well as on clinical, imaging, and surgical anatomy. Furthermore, in 2023, following a collaboration between the Laboratory of Anatomy and the Technical Services Department of the University of Crete, a proposal was submitted to the Region of Crete to fund a study for the vertical expansion of the Anatomy building by one floor. This expansion is intended to accommodate the Laboratory’s existing requirements (e.g., rooms for anatomical models, an osteological collection room, a VR room, a comparative anatomy laboratory, etc.); the preparation of this study has already been completed.
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