On 1 Jan 2016, a Journal of Universal Surgery article profiled Aspasia and Cleopatra Metrodora as influential early Byzantine female physician‑surgeons.
On 1 January 2016, surgeons Gregory T. and Markos S. published a paper in the Journal of Universal Surgery examining the careers of Aspasia and Cleopatra Metrodora, describing them as “two majestic female physician‑surgeons” in the early Byzantine era.
The article discusses Cleopatra Metrodora as an illustrious Greek surgeon of probable Egyptian origin and situates her either in the 7th century AD or as a contemporary of Soranus (1st–2nd century AD), reflecting scholarly uncertainty about chronology. It summarizes innovative gynecological and surgical procedures associated with her, including operations on breast and facial tissues and treatment of gynecological cancers, and emphasizes the sex‑based barriers she would have confronted in pursuing a surgical career.
Although the identity and dating of Cleopatra Metrodora remain debated, this 2016 study is historically important because it foregrounds the possibility of high‑level female surgical practice in the Byzantine period and links it to the broader tradition of women’s medicine represented by Metrodora’s treatise. By appearing in a contemporary surgical journal, the article invites practicing surgeons to consider the deep historical roots of their discipline and the often‑overlooked contributions of women, thereby enriching the context in which Metrodora’s name is studied and remembered.