Andrzej Szczeklik is a Polish physician, professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine (Collegium Medicum) in Kraków.

He received his graduate degree from the University of Krakow, and after completing his one-year internship in the USA he worked for seven years at the Academy of Medicine in Wrocław. He completed his postgraduate training abroad; at the Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities...

 in Stockholm and University of Uppsala, Sweden as well as at the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina

Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...

, Chapel Hill, USA.

In 1989 he became chairman of Department of Medicine, Jagiellonian University School of Medicine in Krakow. In 1990-1993 he was elected the Rector (President) of the Copernicus Academy of Medicine in Cracow, and then Vice-Rector of the Jagiellonian University for Medical Affairs (1993–1996).

Szczeklik's main research interest include: cardiopulmonary diseases, aspirin-induced asthma

Asthma

Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...

, chemical mediators in diseases of circulatory

Circulatory system

The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients , gases, hormones, blood cells, etc...

 and respiratory system

Respiratory system

The respiratory system is the anatomical system of an organism that introduces respiratory gases to the interior and performs gas exchange. In humans and other mammals, the anatomical features of the respiratory system include airways, lungs, and the respiratory muscles...

s with special reference to eicosanoid

Eicosanoid

In biochemistry, eicosanoids are signaling molecules made by oxidation of twenty-carbon essential fatty acids, ....

s.

Szczeklik has been lecturing extensively in major European, American and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese universities. He was a visiting professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sheffield

University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...

, UK, King's College School of Medicine, London, UK and Hochgebirgsklinik Davos-Wolfgang, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

Publications

Szczeklik published two largely successful and very well received books: "Katharsis", 2002 (published in Polish

Polish language

Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

, English, Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

) and "Kore".

He is an author and co-author of about 600 papers published in the leading biomedical journals, including: "Nature

Nature (journal)

Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...

", "Lancet

The Lancet

The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...

", "NEJM

New England Journal of Medicine

The New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It describes itself as the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.-History:...

", "JCI

JCI

JCI is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* JCI, Jakarta Composite Index of Indonesia Stock Exchange* JCI Limited or Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Limited - One of the oldest listed companies on the JSE Securities Exchange having been formed in 1889...

", "BMJ

British Medical Journal

BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...

", "Blood

Blood (journal)

Blood is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Society of Hematology. Founded by William Dameshek in 1946, the journal changed from semimonthly to weekly publication at the start of 2009. The journal publishes clinical and basic scientific research in all areas of hematology.It...

", "Circulation

Circulation (journal)

Circulation is a scientific journal published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins for the American Heart Association. The journal publishes articles related to research in and the practice of cardiovascular diseases, including observational studies, clinical trials, epidemiology, health services and...

", "JACI", etc. He is also author and co-author and co-editor of several international and Polish medical textbooks.

Membership in societies and awards

Szczeklik is a member of numerous scientific societies, such as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Pontifical Academy of Sciences

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a scientific academy of the Vatican, founded in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. It is placed under the protection of the reigning Supreme Pontiff. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of related...

 in the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 and Royal College of Physicians in London, UK (honorary member), American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, European Academy of Allergy Clinical Immunology, European Respiratory Society

European Respiratory Society

The European Respiratory Society, or ERS, is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland founded in 1990 in the field of respiratory medicine. The organization was formed with the merger of the Societas Europaea Physiologiae Clinicae Respoiratoriae and the European Society of Pneumology...

, International Society of Thrombosis Haemostasis, Polish Academy of Sciences

Polish Academy of Sciences

The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...

.

In 1995 Szczeklik was awarded with "Gloria Medicinae" a medal of Polish Society of Medicine. In 1997 he received first prize of "The Lancet" for the paper reporting on genetic polymorphism

Polymorphism (biology)

Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...

 of leukotriene C4 syntase. In 1998 he received the scientific prize of the Royal College of Physicians, London and was elected to the College. In the same year he received the first award of "The Polish Science Foundation" for his studies on mechanism of action of aspirin

Aspirin

Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...

. In 2001 he was awarded the gold medal and "The Robert A. Cook Memorial Lectureship" by American Academy Allergy Asthma and Immunology. From 1999 to 2003 he received honorary doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

s from University Schools of Medicine in Wrocław, Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

 and Łódź. In 2007 he was awarded Fellowship by American College of Physicians.