{"id":47935,"date":"2026-04-27T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T04:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=47935"},"modified":"2026-04-27T09:24:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T07:24:40","slug":"dr-istvan-gera-i-owe-everything-to-semmelweis-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2026\/04\/dr-istvan-gera-i-owe-everything-to-semmelweis-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera: I owe everything to Semmelweis University"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera, Professor Emeritus, periodontist, founder of the Department of Periodontology, and former dean of the Faculty of Dentistry (FOK), received the Sz\u00e9chenyi Prize on the occasion of this year\u2019s March 15 national holiday. According to the official justification, \u201che received the award in recognition of his outstanding scientific work as the founder of the Hungarian school of periodontology, which enjoys a high international reputation, as well as his exemplary activities in the fields of healing and education.\u201d In an interview with our website, Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera shared why this recognition is important to him and what Semmelweis University means to him. He also talked about the major milestones of his career.<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThere have been many noteworthy milestones in my life. But perhaps none can compare to the moment when, upon entering the main entrance of the Hungarian Parliament Building, I walked up the red carpet of the magnificent staircase, stood beside the Holy Crown of Hungary, and took my seat among the honorees. \u201cIt was an uplifting experience!,\u201d recalled Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera, describing the moments leading up to receiving the Sz\u00e9chenyi Prize, a recognition awarded by the state for outstanding contribution to academic life in Hungary. He added that it was a source of immense joy for him to receive this honor as a clinician and indeed, as the first dentist,\u00a0 especially since Dr. Zolt\u00e1n Zsolt Nagy, Director of the Department of Ophthalmology, and Nobel laureate Dr. Ferenc Krausz were also honored that same year. At a ceremony held in the Hungarian Parliament Building, Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera received one of the nation\u2019s highest honors from President Tam\u00e1s Sulyok, Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, and L\u00e1szl\u00f3 K\u00f6v\u00e9r, Speaker of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

\n

From the very moment I entered this university in 1967 until I received the Sz\u00e9chenyi Prize on March 14, I felt that my life had been guided by a series of fortunate coincidences. \u2013 Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He was born in Szeged in 1949. His career choice was significantly influenced by the fact that, during the first decade of his life, he spent nearly a year in hospital. \u201cI was introduced to hospital life, the work that goes on there, and the doctors and nurses at an early age. That\u2019s what inspired my decision to become a doctor. At first, I wanted to apply to medical school. But, since I\u2019ve always loved drilling and carving, I decided to apply to the Faculty of Dentistry at the last minute,” he recalled. In 1967, he was admitted to the Faculty of Dentistry (FOK) at the then Medical University of Budapest (BOTE). He received his degree from Semmelweis University of Medicine (SOTE) in 1972 with summa cum laude honors. He won several academic competitions, served as an award-winning teaching assistant and was actively involved in the university\u2019s community life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was determined to work in a hands-on field, specifically in dentoalveolar surgery, and I was even accepted as an intern there. However, at the end of my 10th semester, Professor B\u00e9la Ber\u00e9nyi, the Dean of the faculty, informed me that I would be working in the oral diseases section of the Department of Oral Surgery. \u201cThat\u2019s how I ended up in this department, which at the time had a distinct focus on internal medicine; they primarily dealt with diseases of the oral mucosa here. The course in periodontology was also taught in this department,\u201d he recalled, describing how he found his chosen field. \u201cWhen I started working in the oral disease section, Dr. Korn\u00e9lia Sallay called me in and asked me what I wanted to specialize in. I had already chosen periodontology by then. However, she replied that there was no scientific evidence for this, so what was I supposed to do with that? She suggested that I focus on drug-induced dry mouth and other diseases of the oral mucosa. But I missed the hands-on surgical work. I began leafing through the bound volumes of the Journal of Periodontology from \u201953 to \u201973, which virtually no one in the department was reading. Back then, not even the educators were particularly interested in periodontology. While reading these, I noticed that 40-50 new periodontal surgical techniques – along with their clinical results – had been published in the journal. I asked Dr. Korn\u00e9lia Sallay whether we could perform these surgeries ourselves, since the papers indicated that they could effectively treat periodontal disease. Before long, we had co-authored our first periodontology handbook, followed by the textbook,\u201d noted Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera.<\/p>\n

The first Periodontology Congress was held in G\u00f6d\u00f6ll\u0151 in 1977, attracting experts from all over the world.<\/p>\n

\n

In the early years, the department\u2019s doctors learned increasingly complex surgical procedures almost entirely on their own, step by step; they published numerous articles on these procedures in Hungarian journals and gave a series of scientific lectures. \u201cPeriodontology is the bedrock of dentistry,\u201d believes Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He added that the discipline had undergone tremendous development; back in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, only a slim volume summarized the relevant findings and research. Today, a textbook of more than 650 pages has been released by Semmelweis Publishing, now in its third, expanded edition. Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera served as the editor-in-chief for all three of them.<\/p>\n

The next milestone in his career was his study trip abroad. \u201cDean Dr. Imre V\u00e1mos passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in the spring of 1980. His successor was Dr. Gy\u00f6rgy Szab\u00f3, who came from Szeged; he was a professor who had already seen the world, was internationally recognized, and was exactly ten years older than me. He had barely assumed his position when he called me in: \u2018I\u2019ve heard about you in Szeged; you\u2019ll have to go abroad too!\u2019 However, I owe the scholarship not to him, but to Dean Jol\u00e1n B\u00e1n\u00f3czy. She spent a month at the University of Connecticut (UCON) at the invitation of the world-renowned Norwegian scholar Harald L\u00f6e, who was the Dean of the faculty at the time. \u201cWhen the dean returned home in August 1982, she called me to ask if I would be interested in going to America for two years. I couldn\u2019t turn down that offer,\u201d recalled Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera. However, he could thank Professor Klaus Nuki, a vice dean of Austrian descent with Hungarian roots, for the scholarship itself: he had the opportunity to spend two years as a dental resident and two semesters as a visiting researcher at the university. \u201cIn the end, I also owe it to Professor Nuki that I was able to join the research group of a wonderful endocrinologist, Dr. Larry Raisz, who is also of Hungarian descent. I started working part-time in Professor Janet Hock\u2019s laboratory here as early as January 1984, and I continued this research work as a colleague of Dr. Hock until August 1988,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>His scholarship ended in 1988, but he continued to participate in research until 1992. As a follow-up to this, Janet Hock, then Vice President of Research at Eli Lilly and Company, registered the low-dose parathyroid hormone fragment (hPTH-1-34) as a drug for human use in the United States in 2000 – this medication for osteoporosis is still available in Hungary today. \u201cFrom the very beginning – starting with animal trials – we have come to develop a registered drug, and I was able to participate in its research program – despite being a dentist, a resident, and a Hungarian,\u201d he pointed out. Regarding his study abroad, he highlighted the role played by his wife, Dr. Etelka Varga: \u201cShe endured my long absence, visited me several times, but she was the one at home when my godmother or my grandmother passed away. I can\u2019t thank her enough for holding down the fort! As the saying goes, behind every successful man there stands a strong woman – and that\u2019s certainly true in my case.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his time in the United States, Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera learned that one must maintain high standards in one\u2019s work under all circumstances. \u201cWorking in the U.S. was a major challenge. It was there, in 1983, that I first encountered a computer and numerous instruments I had never seen back home.\u201d They really instilled this ‘quality dentistry’ mindset in us: They checked the accuracy of the impressions under a microscope, and if the probe got caught on the edge of the trial crown, the boss would immediately come over and say, ‘Istv\u00e1n, do it again!’ That\u2019s exactly why, when people asked me after I had returned home if there was a difference between American and Hungarian dentistry, I always said: \u201cIt\u2019s just as much as there is between the production of an East German Trabant and the production of a Mercedes,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

Returning home, Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera joined the English-language dental training program in 1991 and was appointed vice dean in 1992. He considers the greatest breakthrough in his professional career to have been his habilitation in 1996, based primarily on the results published in American bone research journals. A year later, he was appointed professor. That same year, he became the first professor at the Department of Periodontology, which had been established at the recommendation of Dean Dr. P\u00e1l Fej\u00e9rdy. \u201cTo this day, it remains the only independent periodontology clinic in Hungary. An internationally recognized research team has evolved at the clinic, and outstanding research projects have been and continue to be carried out here,\u201d he noted. He served as dean of FOK for two terms, from 2004 to 2010. Alongside Jol\u00e1n B\u00e1n\u00f3czy, he served as secretary-general and later as president of the Hungarian Dental Association (MFE); he also rose from secretary to president of the Hungarian Society of Periodontology, where he was later elected president for life. He has received numerous state and university honors, including the \u00c1rk\u00f6vy Commemorative Medal, the Hungarian Higher Education Commemorative Plaque, the Knight\u2019s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (Civil Division), the Pro Universitate Award, the Semmelweis Ign\u00e1c Commemorative Medal and Award, and the Pro Universitate Lifetime Achievement Award.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy patients are practically like family to me, because in periodontology, a successful case means a lifelong relationship between doctor and patient. I have many patients in their 80s and 90s who have managed to keep their teeth well into old age thanks to ongoing treatment. Semmelweis University is my second family. \u201cI\u2019m 77 years of age, I get to work in excellent conditions, I still see patients in my office, and I\u2019m involved in teaching – I love giving lectures! I owe everything to the university: my scholarship to the U.S., becoming a professor, and even being able to establish a department,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u00c1d\u00e1m Szab\u00f3
\nTranslation: Judit D\u0151tsch
\nPhotos by Bogl\u00e1rka Zellei \u2013 Semmelweis University; MTI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former dean of the Faculty of Dentistry received the Sz\u00e9chenyi Prize this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102255,"featured_media":47939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,286],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-x-nyitolap"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47935"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47947,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47935\/revisions\/47947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}