ALIKI PERROTI has long been a recognized substantial private and public philanthropist in her native Greece. A daughter of Theodoros Koustantopoulos, an internationally renowned civil engineer who was a major force in post-World War II Greece (after his wartime refusal to assist or cooperate with the Nazis during the occupation resulted in the confiscation of his construction company and exposure to personal danger), Mrs. Perroti established and solely funded the Konstantopoulio Hospital in honored memory of her father and her mother, Maria. This modern, 285-bed public hospital was built in a poor Athens neighborhood grammar check. With its highly skilled and dedicated medical and professional staff, the hospital provides needed health care across a broad spectrum of specialties to patients, regardless of their financial means, and functions as a highly regarded and integral pillar of the health care system of Greece–not unlike Johns Hopkins in its history and standing.
Additionally, Mrs. Perroti established and funded the Dimitris Perrotis College of Agricultural Studies at The American Farm School in Thessoloniki, Greece, in honored memory of her husband, and the state-of-the-art Aliki and Dimitrius Perrotis Library there which serves the Thessoloniki community as well as student and faculty needs.
Long a friend of Johns Hopkins and grateful beneficiary of its services, Mrs. Perroti has been particularly impressed with the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine founded by David B. Hellmann, MD, of Johns Hopkins Bayview. As her first major contribution outside of Greece, Mrs. Perroti is gratified to establish the Aliki Perroti Professorship in Innovative Medicine to meet the emerging medical challenges of the twenty-first century and beyond.
Held by David B. Hellmann
DAVID B. HELLMANN, MD, MACP, is the Aliki Perroti Professor of Medicine, holds the David B. Hellmann, MD endowed chair at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and is Director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Innovative Medicine (CIM). Dr. Hellmann is an internationally renowned rheumatologist, educator, and program builder. From 2000 to 2020, Dr. Hellmann was Chair of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview, and from 2005-2020 was also the Vice Dean for that campus. The Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine, which Hellmann created in 2004 at the behest of then Johns Hopkins University President, William R. Brody, is founded upon the belief that Medicine is a public trust. CIM strives to imagine and test novel ways in which promotion of caring, science, and justice related to health can make Medicine a better public trust for patients, families, and communities. Signature projects created or supported by CIM include the annual Miller Lecture, the Aliki Initiative, the Miller Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence, Medicine for the Greater Good, the Human Aging Project, and the Initiative to Humanize Medicine. Generous donors have funded 53 CIM Scholars and endowed 4 professorships to support the faculty and staff who carry out the work of the Center. Dr. Hellmann was editor of the journal MEDICINE (Baltimore), is an associate editor of the American Journal of Medicine, and serves on the editorial Board of The Pharos, the journal of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Dr. Hellmann served as a director of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Trustee of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, and a Governor of the American College of Physicians (1998-2002). He has received many local and national teaching awards and best doctor awards. In 1998 Dr. Hellmann co-founded the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center. From 1992 to 2000, Dr. Hellmann served as the first Program Director of the Osler Medical Residency Training Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Hellmann graduated from Yale College, received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins, completed internship and residency on the Osler Medical Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and trained in rheumatology and clinical immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. He and his wife, Linda, enjoy ballroom dancing and spending time with their 2 children and 4 granddaughters.