ΣΧΟΛΗ ΜΟΡΙΑΚΗΣ ΙΑΤΡΙΚΗΣ, Η νέα γενιά επιστημόνων

Αισθήματα περηφάνιας και συγκίνησης κυριάρχησαν στην  3η τελετή αποφοίτησης  της νέας γενιάς επιστημόνων της Σχολής Μοριακής Ιατρικής Κύπρου (ΣΜΙΚ), του Ινστιτούτου Νευρολογίας και Γενετικής Κύπρου (ΙΝΓΚ), η οποία πραγματοποιήθηκε την Πέμπτη 15 Νοεμβρίου 2018 στο Δημοτικό Θέατρο Στροβόλου.

Φίλοι, συγγενείς και εκλεκτοί προσκεκλημένοι παρακολούθησαν την απονομή 47 πτυχίων σε 10 απόφοιτους των PhD-Διδακτορικών προγραμμάτων και σε  37 απόφοιτους των MSc-Μάστερ προγραμμάτων. Οι απόφοιτοι ανήκουν στους κλάδους της Μοριακής Ιατρικής, Ιατρικής Γενετικής, Νευροεπιστήμης και Βιοϊατρικής Έρευνας. Η διεθνοποίηση της ΣΜΙΚ, ένας από τους πρωταρχικούς στόχους της Σχολής, έχει επιτευχθεί αφού μέχρι στιγμής έχουν φοιτήσει στη ΣΜΙΚ υπήκοοι από τις ακόλουθες 12 χώρες: Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο, Ιταλία, Λίβανος, Σαουδική Αραβία, Ρωσία, Ινδία, Αίγυπτος, Ισραήλ, Συρία, Λιβύη, Κύπρος και Ελλάδα. Παράλληλα, η ΣΜΙΚ προσελκύει πλέον σε ετήσια βάση, αιτήσεις από υποψήφιους φοιτητές από πολλά μέρη της υφηλίου. Ιδιαίτερη σημασία έχει το γεγονός ότι απόφοιτοι της ΣΜΙΚ οι οποίοι κατέκτησαν μεταδιδακτορικές θέσεις σε μερικά από τα πιο αξιόλογα εκπαιδευτικά και ερευνητικά Ιδρύματα του κόσμου, συμπεριλαμβανομένων και τον κορυφαίων της Αγγλίας, Oxford Genomics Centre – Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford University, Imperial College London, UCL και King’s College London, άφησαν για λίγο τις νέες τους υποχρεώσεις για να παρευρεθούν στην τελετή και να παραλάβουν και επίσημα πλέον τα πτυχία τους. 

Την εκδήλωση τίμησε με την παρουσία του ο Υπουργός Υγείας Κωνσταντίνος Ιωάννου, ο οποίος εκφώνησε χαιρετισμό εκ μέρους του Προέδρου της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας, Νίκου Αναστασιάδη. O Πρόεδρος εξήρε την ερευνητική δραστηριότητα του ΙΝΓΚ, καθώς και το τρίπτυχο μοντέλο του Ινστιτούτου, έρευνα, υπηρεσίες και εκπαίδευση. Υπογράμμισε επίσης τη σημασία των νέων επιστημόνων για την πρόοδο της Κύπρου καθώς και τη στήριξη του κράτους προς την έρευνα και την καινοτομία, στοιχεία τα οποία πρεσβεύει το Ινστιτούτο.

Στο χαιρετισμό του ο Γενικός Διευθυντής της ΣΜΙΚ, Καθηγητής Λεωνίδας Φυλακτού ευχαρίστησε το κράτος για τη διαχρονική και έμπρακτη στήριξή του προς το Ινστιτούτο. Απευθυνόμενος προς τους απόφοιτους, υπογράμμισε τη σημασία της αφοσίωσης των νέων επιστημόνων στον ασθενή και στην προσφορά τους προς την κοινωνία. 

Ο Κοσμήτορας της Σχολής, Καθηγητής Κυριάκος Κυριάκου συνεχάρη τους απόφοιτους και έκανε αναδρομή στα αρχικά χρόνια του ΙΝΓΚ, στην πορεία εξέλιξης και στη συνδρομή της νέας γενιάς επιστημόνων στη συνολική προσφορά προς την επιστημονική κοινότητα και το ευρύτερο κοινωνικό σύνολο.

Χαιρετισμό απηύθυνε ο Πρόεδρος του ΔΣ του Ινστιτούτου, Ιωάννης Μάτσης, ο οποίος απένειμε τα βραβεία κοινωνικής προσφοράς προς οργανισμούς και εταιρείες που έμπρακτα στηρίζουν τη ΣΜΙΚ και το ΙΝΓΚ. Οι τιμηθέντες των CSMM Special Contribution Awards για το 2018 ήταν, το Ίδρυμα Α.Γ. Λεβέντη, η Κεντρική Τράπεζα της Κύπρου, η Αρχή Τηλεπικοινωνιών Κύπρου (CYTA), η Eurobank Cyprus Ltd, η ΟΠΑΠ Κύπρου Λτδ, η RCB Bank Ltd, η SPP Media Group, η Petrolina (Holdings) Public Ltd και η συνδεδεμένη της εταιρεία PPT Aviation Services Ltd.

Η Σχολή Μοριακής Ιατρικής Κύπρου προσφέρει μεταπτυχιακά προγράμματα σπουδών, επιπέδου Μάστερ και Διδακτορικού, στους εξής τέσσερεις κλάδους: Μοριακή Ιατρική, Ιατρική Γενετική, Βιοϊατρική Έρευνα και Νευροεπιστήμη.

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες στο 22392840 και στην ιστοσελίδα της Σχολής www.cing.ac.cy/csmm/

 

 

Η ομιλία του Προέδρου του ΔΣ του ΙΝΓΚ, κ. Ιωάννη Μάτση:

Honourable Minister,
Honoured guests,
Dear MSc and PhD graduands,

Congratulations!

What a special day for you all, for your families for your friends and those that love and care for you, and of-course for us at the school and the institute!

You achieved a lot!  You should be proud!  I am sure the journey so far has not always been easy.

For every end, there is a new beginning.  And so, today marks both an end, but also a beginning of the new chapter.  And what is important in the new chapter, is how in the future you will use your new-found knowledge and wisdom.

One of the greatest gifts that you can give yourself, right here, right now, in this single, solitary, monumental moment in your life, is to decide, without any apology, to commit to the journey, and not to the outcome.  Commit to a journey of discovery, not to the destination.  Until now, for most of you, your life has been mapped out for you – in many ways it has not been yours.  Your parents, your family, your society, shaped you to what you are today.  And you should be thankful to them.  But from today you are you.  Now you must take control.  Take ownership.  This life is yours.  Write your own story.  Do not pretend to yourselves that you are anything other than what you each are – and you each know what that is.  This is how content will come and along with it, success in life, and in your jobs.

This school has armed you with knowledge.  Specific academic knowledge of the subject matter you each studied.  Great!  But it has also armed you with a unique ability to be inquisitive, and to think.  So, use your thinking gifts.  Exercise control over how and what you think.  Be conscious every NOW, and be mindful enough to ensure every NOW that what you choose to engage in is what you truly like.  Because if you cannot or will not exercise this kind of mindfulness during the journey you embark on, you will be living someone’s else’s life and fulfilling someone else’s expectations.  And you will not be fulfilled.

And take risks.  If you take control you will also have to take risks.  Inevitably, some of those risks can take you to a bad place – perhaps to fail.  But it is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you have failed by default.  Embrace risks and the possibility of failure, and success will come.

Heart beats.  If you are lucky enough to grow old, and manage to live the average expected life span, you still have in you about 3 billion 65 million 299 thousand heart beats.  Make each one count.

Before I close, I want to leave you with a quote from a graduation speech given by Steve Jobs at Stamford university in 2005, where he talked about how to live your life before dying – incidentally this speech was given soon after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer – 6 years before it eventually killed him.  Jobs said:

The only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.  Don't settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

Settling means giving in to someone else's vision of your life.  Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

What matters, isn't the failure - that's inevitable - but what happens next.  A failure often does not have to be a failure at all.  However, you have to be ready for it.  Will you admit when things go wrong?  Will you take steps to set them right?  Because the difference between triumph and defeat, you’ll find, isn’t about your willingness to take risks. It’s about your mastery of rescue."

Closing, I would like to express our appreciation and special thanks to the Government and especially to the President of the Republic for the support shown to our Institute and our School. I would also like to thank the Ministers of Health, Education and Culture, and Finance, for their continuous support of Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine and the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics. Finally, I would also like to thank all the organisations who have supported our School over the past few years and whose contribution will be acknowledged tonight.

Η ομιλία του Γενικού Διευθυντή της ΣΜΙΚ, Καθηγητή Λεωνίδα Φυλακτού:

Honorable Minister of Health
Dear graduands
Dear Parents and families of our graduands
Invited guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

With great joy, I welcome you to the graduation ceremony of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine. I would especially like to welcome the parents of our graduands, who were extremely supportive during the studies of their children and who, together with all of us here this evening, share the happiness and pride of a successful completion. 

The vision of our Institute to function as an International Center of Excellence and a Regional Referral Center in the areas of neurology, genetics and biomedical and medical sciences remains ……… and the implementation of our five core values: Excellence, Social Service, Professionalism, Innovation and Teamwork guide us through our everyday mission.

For the last 28 years, the Institute has stood next to the patient, the Society and our country, having as an ultimate aim the continuous improvement of the quality of life of our patients and the people.

Given this opportunity, I would like to thank the Cyprus Government for its continuous support towards our Institute. The model of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics is quite unique in the way that it combines specialised services, research and education. Uniqueness which acts catalytically to implement the Institute’s mission. The Government has recognized this uniqueness and continues to support us with the expansion of our premises which will be completed and in use within the next few years. Through this expansion, more research will be undertaken. Research, is the point of reference for enhancing and expanding education. Thus inevitably, the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine will grow bigger and stronger.  

Globalisation and continuous changes in our world create new challenges which need to be faced by scientists of robust scientific composure and integrity. The Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine contributes so that the new scientists are prepared and ready to be a part of, and play a major role in, the new world. 

All graduands have proven that they are worthy graduands of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine. I would like to thank them for their outstanding work and for contributing significantly to the research output of the Institute. 

I would like to thank the staff of the Institute and the School, the faculty of our School, the Dean, the President and members of the Board of Directors for acting synergistically and making the graduation of our students successful.

Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to those organisations that have supported our School during the past years and, I hope, will continue to support it. Warm thanks to The A.G. Leventis Foundation, Central Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA) Ltd, Eurobank Cyprus Ltd, OPAP Cyprus Ltd, Petrolina (Holdings) Public Ltd, PPT Aviation Services Ltd, RCB Bank Ltd and SPP Media Group.

Dear granduands,

This evening’s event is an important landmark for you. Your endless efforts for academic learning at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics have yielded excellent results. The degree you are receiving tonight is a passport which will allow you to be employed in our country, but also anywhere else in the world you may wish to work. For some of you, it is a passport to continue further with your post-graduate studies. Whether you will embark on something different or continue with science, always have one thing in mind: you can never know enough. Your target should always be to learn more and more; This is the secret to better discovering and understanding our world but at the same time, the secret to becoming even more useful to society. 

It is our great wish to keep in touch with you and to help you, in any way we can, to achieve your future goals.

Good luck in your future endeavors and God bless you.

Thank you

Η ομιλία του Κοσμήτορα της Σχολής, Καθηγητή Κυριάκος Κυριάκου:

Honourable Minister of Health, 
Dear Mayor, 
Distinguished guests, 
Graduands, 
lLadies and gentlemen, 

As Dean of the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine, it is my pleasure to  welcome you to the third Graduation Ceremony of our School. 

Today’s Graduation Ceremony marks the completion of our first six years of operation at the CSMM. During this time we have nurtured our Graduands, into becoming the next generation of scientists and we have watched them progress and mature, under the roof of our Institute. We are especially pleased that our efforts at Internalization are coming to fruition. So far we have hosted students from 12 countries and we are aiming to continue expanding this number.

Dear Graduands, in addition to marking a major personal achievement I hope that this day will be remembered as setting the stone for your future careers, both in science as well as in our society. As you move on to the next phase of your academic or professional career paths I hope that we have impressed upon you the importance of quality work as Researchers and as Scientists. Indeed, this is a mission filled with much social responsibility for which both you and your families can and should feel very proud. This is because your work impacts on the lives of patients and our fellow citizens.  I would like to thank you for selecting the CSMM for your studies. My gratitude also goes to all my Colleagues, be it academic, administrative or medical staff who have supported and stood by you throughout the duration of your academic life at the Institute.