Zoe Garoufalia is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at the 6th Surgical Department of Hygeia Hospital, Athens, Greece. She completed advanced fellowship training in minimally invasive colorectal surgery and colorectal research at Cleveland Clinic Florida under the mentorship of Professor Steven D. Wexner.

She holds a PhD in Medicine and has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, indexed in PubMed and Google Scholar, with 2,700+ citations, an h-index of 24, and an i10-index of 61. Her research focuses on colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, minimally invasive surgery, outcomes research, and evidence-based surgical practice.

Dr Garoufalia is actively involved in international surgical societies and currently serves as Assistant General Secretary of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP), Chair of Young-ESCP, and Chair of the ASCRS Communications Committee. She is also a Section Editor and Editorial Board member for multiple international journals and a reviewer for high-impact journals including The Lancet Oncology and The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.


She has a strong interest in surgical education and mentoring and is the creator and director of postgraduate educational initiatives focused on structured, hands-on training and high-quality surgical research.