Associate Professor Igor Kozák (born in 1971, graduated in 1995) is an expert in the treatment of retinal diseases, diseases of the posterior segment of the eye and macular degeneration. His top career was launched by his successful studies at the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine in Košice. After graduating in General Medicine, he first worked as an assistant professor at the Clinic of Ophthalmology of the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty Hospital and Polyclinic in Košice. During his PhD studies, in cooperation with the Clinic of Surgery of the University of Veterinary Medicine, he devoted himself to chemical injuries of the eye and the possibilities of their surgical treatment. During his studies he published articles in international journals in the field of refractive surgery and corneal regeneration.
Shortly after defending his degree thesis, he went to the Shiley Eye Center at the University of California in San Diego, USA, for specialty training in diseases and surgical treatment, and after completing another fellowship, he joined the University staff. He introduced topical anaesthesia for intravitreal injections and was the first author to describe retinal degenerative changes, the so-called neuroretina degeneration in immunosuppressed patients. He pioneered retinal diseases and intraocular inflammation, laser treatment in ophthalmology, imaging methods and retinal pharmacology (drug delivery), and is credited with establishing retinal navigation laser therapy as one of the most progressive laser methods today. Subsequently, he worked at the Royal Eye Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he oversaw the specialty training of board-certified physicians. Currently, Associate Professor Kozák works as the senior Eye Center specialist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in the United Arab Emirates and, in addition to treating patients, is involved in research into diabetic retinopathy.
Assoc. Prof. MUDr. Igor Kozák, PhD, MAS actively lectures at international congresses. He is on the editorial boards of several ophthalmology journals, a reviewer of over 60 scientific journals, and a reviewer of scientific grants from many institutions, including the National Institutes of Health. He is the author of six books and eight chapters in leading textbooks in ophthalmology. In total, he has published two hundred articles in ophthalmology journals worldwide, including two papers in Nature. He is an proponent of the close link among clinical work, academic medicine, and research.
Professor Martin Maršala (born in 1961, graduated in 1986) graduated from the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine in Košice and immediately after graduation in 1986, while still completing his regular military service at the Military Aviation College, began to devote himself to scientific work. Subsequently, he worked as a surgeon at the Second Clinic of Surgery of the UPJŠ FM and the L. Pasteur Faculty Hospital in Košice and at the same time he was engaged in research on spinal cord ischemia at the Institute of Neurobiology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Košice, which was founded by his father, Professor Jozef Maršala.
In 1991, he received a research grant from the American National Institutes of Health in the 1990s for researchers from Eastern Europe and was invited to continue his research at the University of California, San Diego, under the tutelage of the distinguished scholar Tony Yaksh. After completing a grant associated with his tenure in the Department of Anaesthesiology, he remained at the University of California as a full-time faculty member, where he has been leading a state-of-the-art laboratory researching the consequences of ischemic spinal cord injury and the various treatment options for this medical problem, primarily using germline stem cells.
Prof. MUDr. Martin Maršala, PhD. has an active publication record and lectures not just throughout the United States, but also in Canada, Japan, and European countries.
Assoc. Prof. Michal Mokrý (born in 1982, graduated in 2007) excelled during his studies at the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine in Košice both in terms of his academic achievements and his interest in scientific pursuits. He was engaged in student scientific professional activity, and had extensive publication activity, including publishing in peer-reviewed journals. As a 6th grade student of the General Medicine study programme, he earned the Student Personality of Slovakia Award for Medical Sciences and Pharmacy.
Before graduating from the Faculty of Medicine at UPJŠ he had the opportunity to work at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where he later completed his PhD studies. He is currently working at the Paediatric Clinic there and his research focuses on intestinal inflammation. He has co-authored dozens of publications, including articles in Cell, Nature, Nature Methods, Cell Stem Cell, Cell Reports, Immunity, EMBO journal, Nucleic Acids Research, and Gastroenterology.
MUDr. Pavel Oravec (born in 1972, graduated in 1996) has been employed as pneumologist and is the President of the Slovak Medical Chamber.
After graduating in General Medicine at the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine, he was employed as physician at the National Institute of Tuberculosis, Pulmonary Diseases and Thoracic Surgery in Vyšné Hágy as physician at the Department of Pneumology and Phthisiology in 1996-2014. Subsequently, he was employed for two years at the Sanatorium in Tatranská Kotlina, n.o. as Deputy Director for Curative and Preventive Care and later he was its director.
His next medical career was in the Pulmonary Outpatient Clinic at the Hospital and Polyclinic in Karviná-Ráj in the Czech Republic and has been attending to patients as physician at the Pneumology and Phthisiology Outpatient Clinic in Kežmarok since 2019.
MUDr. Pavel Oravec was Vice-President of the Medical Trade Union Association in 2011-2016. In 2012-2015 he served as 1st Vice President of the European Federation of Medical Staff (FEMS) based in Brussels. In 2014- 2021 he was the Chairperson of the Foreign Committee of the Slovak Medical Chamber and since 2021 he has headed the Slovak Medical Chamber as its President.
MUDr Richard Raši, PhD, MPH (born in 1971, graduated in 1995), after graduating from the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine in Košice, established himself professionally as a traumatologist and later as a politician. His medical profession relates to the L. Pastuer University Hospital Košice, where he has been employed as physician at the Department of Trauma Surgery since 1995.
From 2004 to 2007, he served as Deputy Director for Surgical Departments at the LPUH in Košice and then as Director of the University Hospital in Bratislava for two years. In 2008-2010 he was the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic.
In the following years, he was a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and Chairman of the Health/Mandate and Immunity Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. From 2010 to 2018, he held the position of the Mayor of Košice and in the following two years he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic for Investments and Informatisation. Since 2020, he has been a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, having chaired the Committee on Incompatibility of Positions of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and was a member of the Health Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic.
MUDr. Richard Raši, PhD, MPH, continues to be engaged in traumatology alongside his political career in the medical field and is known for his humour and humane approach.
Assoc. Prof. Silvia Timková (born in 1974, graduated in 1998) after graduating in Dental Medicine with excellent grades and obtaining a degree at the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine in Košice, she started her career as dentist at the L. Pasteur University Hospital in Košice. Simultaneously, she also works at the Faculty of Medicine as Associate Professor and teaches both Slovak and international students.
In 2006, she was awarded the scientific-academic rank of PhD. In 2014, she was awarded the MHA degree at the St. Elisabeth University of Health and Social Work in Bratislava and in 2022 she was awarded the degree of Associate Professor in Dental Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University.
Assoc. Prof. MUDr. Silvia Timková, PhD., MHA worked in 2016 – 2022 at the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine as Vice-Dean for the study programme of Dental Medicine in the Slovak and the English languages. Since 2019, she has been the Head Physician of the 1st Dental Clinic of the UPJŠ FM and LPUH in Košice.In 2016, the Slovak Stomatological Society awarded her the prize for the best professional book publication in the field of Stomatology entitled “Diseases of the Tongue”.
