Department of Pediatrics – Pediatric Hematology/Thalassemia Unit

The Pediatric Hematology/Thalassemia Unit belongs to the Department of Pediatrics of the University Hospital of Ioannina. The Head of the Department of Pediatrics is Professor Ekaterini Siomou. The doctors of the Pediatric Hematology/Thalassemia Unit are Dr Alexandros Makis (Professor of Pediatrics-Pediatric Hematology) who is responsible for the Unit and Dr Konstantina Kapetaniou (Consultant of Pediatrics). The Unit is responsible for the medical care of children and adolescents with hemoglobinopathies. Children with acute or chronic non-malignant hematological diseases are also hospitalized in the wards of the Unit. Our Unit is in close collaboration with the pediatric oncology departments of Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki). Hospitalization and special care are offered in children with malignancies after the first lines of treatment, in close collaboration and shared-care protocols with the pediatric oncology departments. Similarly, children with hemostatic disorders (i.e hemophilia, von Willebrand disease) are followed and treated in our Unit according to the instructions and guidelines of specialized centers in Athens and Thessaloniki. There is also, an outpatient Pediatric Hematology clinic on a weekly basis.The research work of the Unit is performed with collaboration with the Laboratory of Child Health of the Medical School and other laboratories of the University of Ioannina. Our research is mainly focused in hemoglobinopathies, autoimmune cytopenias, metabolomic and epigenetic analysis in pediatric hematological disorders and in the hematological alterations during infections. The Pediatric Hematology/Thalassemia Unit is the referral center for the region of Epirus and the greater area of northwestern Greece, Ionian islands, and the neighboring Albania.