Stavros Stavropoulos, MD

Dr. Stavros Stavropoulos began practicing as an interventional endoscopist in 2001 and joined Mount Sinai in 2024. Dr. Stavropoulos grew up in Greece and emigrated to the US to earn his Bachelor’s from Yale summa cum laude and his medical degree with AOA distinction from Columbia. He remained at Columbia to pursue his internship and residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Gastroenterology and an advanced fellowship in Interventional Endoscopy. With his dual-board certification in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Dr. Stavropoulos currently leads the 3rd space & Endoscopic Surgery program at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital.

Dr. Stavropoulos is an expert in Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). He has gained international recognition for his pioneering work in Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM), a procedure that has revolutionized treatment of achalasia and other esophageal disorders and ushered a new field of advanced endoscopy, “3rd space endoscopy” and endoscopic surgery. Dr. Stavropoulos was the first operator to perform POEM in the Western hemisphere in 2009 and he currently stands as the highest volume POEM operator in the US. He has published the largest and most comprehensive single-center Western POEM series to date and led the effort culminating in the POEM white paper, a collaborative effort of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. His recent review article on POEM for the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society won a Wiley most downloaded article award in 2024. Dr. Stavropoulos has continued to innovate in the field of POEM, including his recent publication of an improved POEM technique to minimize the risk of reflux.

Dr. Stavropoulos has also been a pioneer in Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), Endoscopic Full Thickness Resection (EFTR), and Submucosal Tunneling Endoscopic Resection (STER). Techniques that allow organ-sparing, non-invasive complete curative removal of gastrointestinal tumors without the need for invasive surgery and organ removal.  As a leading global expert in these “3rd space Endoscopic Surgery”/Endoscopic Surgery novel techniques, Dr. Stavropoulos is invited in the US and abroad to lecture, provide instruction, and perform live demonstrations. He is involved in the development and testing of new endo-surgical techniques and devices that allow less invasive surgical procedures that are organ-sparing and eliminate the need for surgical incisions. Current devices under evaluation include specialized electrosurgical dissection devices, suturing devices, and endo-robotic devices.

Before joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Stavropoulos served as the Director of Endoscopic Ultrasound at Columbia, followed by the Director of Endoscopy at Winthrop. In 2008 he foundeda live endoscopy course (Long Island Live) that became the pre-eminent US live course in the field of Endoscopic Surgery. In his professional community, Dr. Stavropoulos is a fellow of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the American Gastroenterological Association. He is also a member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and one of a small number of international endoscopists with honorary fellowship to the Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (FJGES), one of the oldest and most revered endoscopy societies in the world.

Dr. Stavropoulos is multilingual and can communicate with his patients in English, Greek, and Spanish. When discussing his role in medicine, Dr. Stavropoulos explains, "The Hippocratic Oath, formulated by my ancestor more than 2000 years ago at the Greek island of Cos, requires physicians to maintain a high ethical standard. Physicians are to provide care that minimizes the risk of harm to the patient and that is not influenced by financial considerations. This code guides my practice as I strive to deliver the best outcomes tailored to each individual patient while minimizing invasiveness and risk to the patient, even when such care is financially penalized by our current health care environment. Patients are well advised to be vigilant and engage in strong advocacy for ethical, truly patient-centered care, free of financial influence."