Nomination from the Embassy of Chile

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Hernando de Magallanes' trip around the world, the "Fundación Imagen de Chile" (in English: Chile's Image Foundation) is organizing a commemorative event, in which various innovators from around the world will be distinguished. Innovators who, like Magellan, have developed a novel project using knowledge, technology and science to achieve an objective that implies something new.

Evangelos Kaimakamis MD, MSc, PhD. and a valuable member of Hellenic Polar Zones Society is nominated by the Chilean Embassy in recognition of his research in the fields of psychological disturbances in extreme environments.

Scientific exploration in the remote Antarctic base of Concordia

A brief history of his studies and scientific research

Dr Kaimakamis studied Medicine in the Medical School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and continued his studies with a Master in Medical Research Technology and a PhD in the same field in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since November 2017 he has been serving as Consultant Intensivist in the 1st I.C.U. in “G. Papanikolaou” General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Greece.

He has participated in many medical research protocols, especially in the field of Medical Informatics and Biosignal Analysis. His research interests include respiratory physiology, sleep disordered breathing, respiration in extreme environments, acute kidney injury, nutrition in critically ill and medical decision support systems.

In 2009 he was shortlisted in the final 45 candidates for the position of European Astronauts for the European Space Agency (ESA), being the first Greek citizen to reach this level. The selection process involved many rounds of skill tests, basic and advanced scientific knowledge, psychological and medical testing and assessment of communicational skills. In 2013, his zeal for space exploration and human research in extreme environments led to him being selected among other European scientists by ESA and sent to the Antarctic scientific base of Concordia for 11 months to study the effects of extreme environment and confinement on human body and mental functions. He was the first Greek to spend a winter in the frozen continent of Antarctica.

During his stay there, he conducted 9 biomedical research protocols pioneering research in the fields of sleep, metabolic, cardiovascular and psychological disturbances in hypoxic and isolated extreme environments. More specifically, a big project referred to sleep studies during the winterover period in order to explore the sleep disturbances caused by hypoxia and their relation to circadian rhythms. Another important undertaking was the study of the basic metabolic rates and their fluctuations during the winterover and this was coined with the analogous psychological fluctuations in the mood and motivation of the Antarctic explorers over time. In addition, microbiological tests studied the germs load on different exposed materials in an effort to discover materials capable of resisting bacteria in space missions or sterile environments on Earth. Finally, digital virtual assistants were utilized to capture the subtle variations in group dynamics and personal psychological status during the confinement period.

Concordia Base (coordinates: 75°05′59″S 123°19′56″E) is considered the ideal space analog on this planet due to the extreme environment, the confinement for at least 9 months, its altitude (3233m) and the resulting hypoxia and the multinational crew. The biomedical studies conducted there help space agencies to determine the biomedical challenges during missions in other planets and select the appropriate countermeasures for physiological and psychological stressors. The scientists who stay at the base for winterover have to prove their scientific merit, the rigor and perseverance as well as their full dedication to perform high level scientific research despite the hostile natural environment in the most remote scientific outpost on this planet.

In parallel, all those studies conducted in the extreme Antarctic environment help scientists envision in-depth physiology analyses for humans on our planet, especially in the fields of sleep disordered breathing, metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and psychological disturbances caused by confinement and severe stress.

Dr Kaimakamis continues to show great interest in the Antarctic exploration, being a member of the Hellenic Polar Zones Society, whilst working full time as an intensivist, playing an active role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, both at a clinical and a research level. Currently, he is one of the key members of a research team that designed a remote system for obtaining thoracic auscultation biosignals from critically ill Covid-19 patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Units, without exposing the healthcare workers to the associated viral load.

You can watch the video of the Embassy of Chile here: Awards

(with subtitles in english)