Nikolaos Vakalis was born in Chania in 1969. He graduated from the Military School of Officer Corps and the Medical Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1994.

He trained in the specialty of Ophthalmology at the University Ophthalmology Clinic of the Athens General Hospital and obtained his specialty title in 2004.  He retrained in the specialized department of retina surgery under the supervision of the professor of the University Ophthalmology Clinic of the General Hospital Athens, M. Apostolopoulos

He specialized in the new techniques of surgical reconstruction of retinal and macular diseases, trauma and diabetic retinopathy in Belgium (Antwerp) at St Augustinus Clinic under MD Carl Claes.
Since 2004, he has created the vitreous and retinal department at the Athens Naval Hospital  with a number of surgical operations.
In 2018, the vitreous-retinal surgery department was created for the first time at the Naval Hospital of Crete under the direction of N. Vakalis. 
 
The latest developments in the field of surgery applied at the Naval Hospital of Athens and Crete  have led to the treatment and  of diseases associated with the treatment  of the macula and  o the retina that significantly affect vision.
 
New treatments and techniques are being researched by the Ophthalmology Clinic  with even more encouraging results

Since February 2025 he has assumed the duties of
Director of the Naval Hospital of Crete