After studies in Algiers, Algeria; Angers, France; and Cairo, Egypt, Giannou went on to begin a surgical career which has taken him to many of the contemporary world's most mediatized conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia and Somalia.
Giannou left his official post with the ICRC after 7 years as the head of Unit Surgery, and today carries out international surgical missions around the world on their behalf.
He is the topic of the Cineflix film "On the Border of the Abyss" which covers his lifetime of work in helping less-fortunate people and in mastering the concepts of war surgery.
The documentary was aired, as "War Surgeon: Chris Giannou", by the Canadian public television station TVO on 10 April 2002.
Volume 1 of the book, called "War Surgery: Working with Limited Resources in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence" is currently available on the ICRC website.