The ceremony, following centuries-old traditions, took place in Prague’s historic city center, at Karolinum, which is the main building of Charles University, founded in 1347. The event opened with the Czech national anthem, followed by the Hungarian national anthem and a welcome speech by the university’s vice-rector. The festive atmosphere was further enhanced by a short fanfare for brass instruments performed by the Prague Trombone Ensemble.
Dr. Béla Merkely was nominated for the honorary doctorate by Dr. Petr Widimský, a world-renowned Czech cardiologist and Dean of the Third Faculty of Medicine at Charles University. In his laudation, Dr. Petr Widimský highlighted Dr. Béla Merkely’s outstanding work in the fields of healing, education, and research, stating that his wide-ranging activities made him a truly unique personality.
He recalled that they had known each other for more than twenty years thanks to their joint activities in the European Society of Cardiology. He lauded Dr. Béla Merkely’s hard work to promote Central Eastern European cardiology in the world heart research arena and to integrate it into the international research community. He mentioned that Dr. Béla Merkely was appointed head of the Department of Cardiology – Semmelweis University Heart Center at the young age of 41, and five years later, under his leadership, the unified Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center was established, which had become one of the largest centers of its kind in Europe. He also pointed out that over the past 25 years, the rector’s scientific interests had expanded to include heart failure, new cardiology techniques, rhythm disturbances, acute coronary syndromes, cardiac remodeling of elite athletes, and endogenic vasoactive arrhythmogenic factors. Dr. Béla Merkely has authored more than a thousand publications, has 104,000 independent citations, and an h-index of 88.
Dr. Petr Widimský also mentioned that Dr. Béla Merkely was the third person he had nominated for the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, following Dr. Eugene Braunwald and Dr. Salim Yusuf, both of whom are considered to be among the world’s most renowned cardiologists.
When I was considering to propose the Doctor Honoris Causa degree to one leading European cardiologist – following two North American experts – , I decided to propose Dr. Béla Merkely as the most hard-working and most complex and interdisciplinary person I know in the entire field of medicine. – Dr. Petr Widimský
Following the laudation, the dean requested the rector’s approval for the awarding of the honorary doctorate, which was presented in a formal ceremony. After the Latin oath, Professor Dr. Petr Toušek, Promotor at the ceremony, presented Dr. Béla Merkely with his diploma and symbolically placed the honorary doctor’s gold chain around his neck.
“Becoming an honorary doctor at Central Europe’s most tradition-rich university, which is almost 700 years old, is a tremendous acknowledgement for any professor. As rector of Hungary’s oldest medical school, Semmelweis University, I believe this distinction also strengthens the historic friendship, academic partnership, and mutual respect between our two universities,” said Dr. Béla Merkely in his speech, referencing Gerta Corina, a famous alumna of Charles University and the first female Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, who once said: “I believe that in art and science are the glories of the human mind.” The rector pointed out that, for him, the greatest glory of the human mind was when scientific work served the best interests of the patients, and when they were able to find answers to questions that had been previously unanswered. “This is my most important guiding principle, whether in my work as a teacher, researcher, and healthcare provider, or in my capacity as leader of a medical and health science university. I believe that this has also contributed to the fact that I am now standing here before you, in this imposing building,” he added.
The rector emphasized that this recognition was particularly honoring and touching for him, as Professor Dr. Petr Widimský, who was the recipient of the 2018 Semmelweis Budapest Award, was an iconic figure in cardiology and vascular medicine in the region, whose vision had been his guiding principle throughout his career. As Dr. Béla Merkely pointed out, Professor Widimský’s name was inseparable from the PRAGUE clinical trial program, which was now in its 23rd trial. His work inspired him and his colleagues to launch the first BUDAPEST study, which has demonstrated that implanting an additional left epicardial electrode in patients suffering from heart failure and stimulated by a pacemaker can resynchronize the heart to such an extent that it can improve its function to an unprecedented degree, as the rector explained.
The two studies are similar not only in their names, but also in that they are both multicenter studies initiated by researchers, and their results directly influence patient management at the bedside, rewriting the guidelines that determine patient care at the international level.
Dr. Béla Merkely and his team are currently working on the second BUDAPEST trial, which affects patients with newly developed left bundle branch block who have undergone transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
Dr. Béla Merkely highlighted that progress and success could only be achieved through international cooperation and cross-border knowledge sharing. That is why he held honorary doctorates in such high regard.
The award I have received today is the highest international honor, standing out among all others, and it means the most to me personally. Not only because I was nominated by my primary role model. It is also because I feel privileged and moved to become an honorary doctor of the most tradition-rich university in our region, which is one of the oldest continuously operating higher education institutions in the world. – Dr Béla Merkely
The rector noted that Charles University was an institution whose alumni community included King Charles IV of Hungary, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, and such important figures in Hungarian history as Artúr Görgei, Pál Maléter, as well as Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Gerta Cori, whom he referenced at the beginning of his speech, or Franz Kafka, Milan Kundera, Karel Čapek, as well as the religious reformer Jan Hus, and Otto Klein, who performed the world’s first diagnostic cardiac catheterizations in 1929 in Prague, and the list goes on and on. The rector also emphasized the significance of this being the first Doctor Honoris Causa ceremony that he attended with his family, his wife and children. “Without their love, patience, and unwavering support, I would not have come this far,” he added.
Dr. Béla Merkely is the first Hungarian physician to receive an honorary doctorate from Charles University, following Hungarian mathematicians Dr. Endre Szemerédi and Dr. László Lovász. In addition to Dr. Béla Merkely, Belgian virologist Dr. Marc Van Ranst also received an honorary doctorate during this year’s ceremony. After the inauguration, the newly conferred honorary doctors were also awarded the Charles University Gold Medal in recognition of their outstanding scientific achievements and long-term international cooperation.
Pálma Dobozi
Translation: Judit Szabados-Dőtsch
Image credit: Charles University
