Dr. Despina Katsochi, MD, PhD, is a Radiation Oncologist specializing in advanced radiotherapy and integrative oncology. She is the founder and president of AKOS, a non-profit organization dedicated to cancer prevention, patient and caregiver education, and the comprehensive support of cancer survivors. Through AKOS, Dr. Katsochi actively promotes an interdisciplinary approach to treatment and fosters a creative dialogue between medical science and the Arts.

A passionate advocate of public health and artistic expression, Dr. Katsochi organizes initiatives aimed at raising public awareness on health issues, particularly cancer prevention. In this context, in 2018 she initiated a meaningful dialogue between medicine and Art by organizing in Athens a distinctive exhibition that combined photographic works by healthcare professionals and paintings by cancer survivors, titled “Stories of the Soul, Roles of Life.”

In 2019, contributing to the global MOVEMBER movement—which focuses on men’s health awareness—she organized, in collaboration with the Greek Cartoonists Association, an exhibition aimed at encouraging men to engage in preventive health practices. In 2021, she led an anti-smoking campaign titled “Say No to Cigarettes: Say It with a Photograph!”, culminating in an exhibition of campaign works at Hygeia Hospital.

In 2022, on the occasion of International Women’s Day and within the framework of the AKOS event “Women in the Game of Life,” Dr. Katsochi led a photographic exploration of women’s everyday lives titled “Women Through the Medical Lens,” featuring physicians participating as amateur photographers. The same year, in collaboration with the School of Fine Arts of Florina, she organized the campaign “The Infinity Symbol in Breast Cancer,” which used Art as a vehicle to symbolize the impact of the disease.

In 2023, she published “ANTHIZO” (“I Bloom”), a photographic album that, through the life cycle of flowers, speaks about human resilience. The album was presented at a special event at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron Mousikis).

Her solo photography exhibition titled “Anthizo” was hosted in the spring of 2024 at Rodax Art Gallery in Nicosia, the artistic expression of the charitable foundation Rodakas Creation and Culture, and subsequently at Gallery Artshot near the Acropolis (2024).

Continuing in the same direction, her exhibition “I Bloom, I Bear Fruit, I Move Forward” was presented under the auspices of the Educational Foundation of the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) at the historic building of the Union in central Athens (2026).

Dr. Katsochi’s work uniquely combines science, art, and compassion. It stands as a tribute to the beauty and strength of life, through initiatives that highlight the importance of prevention for long and quality years of living, as well as actions that focus on compassionate care.