The Board of Directors

Prof. dr hab. n. med. Zbigniew Kalarus

Chairman of the Supervisory Board:

Professor Zbigniew Kalarus, MD PhD FESC – cardiologist, electrophysiologist, chairman of the Department of Cardiology, Congenital Heart Defects and Electrotherapy at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, affiliated with Medical University of Silesia. President of Polish Cardiac Society (PTK). Professor Kalarus is a specialist in internal medicine (1994) and cardiology (1996). He was granted a PhD degree in 1994 on the basis of dissertation „Comparative evaluation of outcomes of PTCA vs. CABG in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease” (with Professor Pasyk as a promotor). In 2003, he obtained a title of Associate Professor, on the basis of the dissertation „Influence of orthodromic atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia on the development of atrial cardiomyopathy in patients with Wolff, Parkinson and White Syndrome”. Since July 23, 2008 – professor of medicine. Academic teacher, supervisor of few generations of residents in cardiology.

Prof. dr hab. n. med. Tomasz Kukulski

Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board:

Prof. Tomasz Kukulski, MD, PhD – internist, cardiologist, graduate of the Faculty of Medicine in Zabrze at the Silesian Medical University in Katowice, lecturer and researcher at the Department of Cardiology, Congenital Heart Defects and Electrotherapy at the Silesian Medical University (SUM), head of the Adult Echocardiography Laboratory at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases (SCCS), member of the Scientific Council of SUM in Katowice, and board member of the Heart Failure Association of the Polish Cardiac Society. He was a scholarship holder of the Batorego Foundation, Linkoping University (Sweden), and the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). As part of the Cardiac Ultrasound Research Group under the supervision of professors Sutherland, Hatle, and Bijnens, he worked on the development and implementation of new ultrasound imaging techniques on animal and clinical models. From 2003 to 2014, he coordinated the multicenter clinical trials STICH and STICHES at SCCS. He is a member of numerous Polish and international scientific societies: the Polish Cardiac Society (PTK), the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), where he currently serves as a member of the Certification and Accreditation Committee. From 2011 to 2013, he served as the chairman of the Valvular Heart Disease Section of the PTK. He is a reviewer and expert of the EACVI participating in the assessment of the quality and standards of echocardiographic examinations. In his projects and scientific works, he utilizes and develops all available techniques of ultrasound imaging of the heart, both in the field of cardiovascular disease diagnostics and in monitoring procedures for structural heart diseases. He is the author of over 100 original and review papers covering a wide range of experimental and clinical cardiology, particularly heart failure, structural heart defects, and echocardiography (citations index of 2273, Hirsch index of 22).

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Prof. dr hab. n. med. Lech Poloński

Member of the Supervisory Board:

Professor Lech Poloński, MD PhD FESC – Cardiologist, Head of The Third Cathedral and The Department of Clinical Cardiology of the Medical University in Silesia in Silesian Center of Heart Diseases in Poland. Regional Consultant in cardiology, consultant in many programme committees and medical magazines. He received numerous prestigious awards such as the Platinum Laurel of Skills and Competences (the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry), the Rector’s Award of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, the Gold Medal of the Polish Medical Society and many others. Author of the Nationwide Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) – one of the largest cardiology register all over the world (the biggest in Europe database of patients with myocardial infraction) – it gives an opportunity to carry out thorough analysis and evaluation of epidemiology, methods of treatment and effectiveness of different strategies in ACS. Results are often used by doctors, regional consultants and the National Health Found.

Dr Magdalena Korzeniowska

Secretary of the Supervisory Board:

Magdalena Korzeniowska, PhD – municipal employee since 2001, serving as the Head of the Real Estate Transactions Department at the Municipal Office in Zabrze since 2008. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Silesia, specializing in political science with a focus on local government. She earned her PhD in political science in 2006. She is a licensed real estate broker, lecturer, trainer, and author of numerous articles in the real estate industry.

Katarzyna Szymańska

Member of the Supervisory Board:

Katarzyna Szymańska – a graduate of the University of Silesia, Gliwice University of Technology, and the University of Economics in Katowice. Since 1993, she has been employed at the Zbigniew Religa Cardiovascular Surgery Development Foundation, currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer and Head Accountant. She has been a longtime employee of the Senatorial and Parliamentary Office of Prof. Zbigniew Religa. She is a member of the editorial team of the publication “Polish Artificial Heart Program, Alliance of Medicine, Science, and Technology”.