Zvonko Kusić () (born 14 June 1946) is a Croatian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who is

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

and

nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emitting ...

and head of the Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine of the Sisters of Charity University Hospital in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. He was president of the

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...

(HAZU) from 2011 till 2018. He is a Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (FCA).

Biography

Early life

Kusić was born on 14 June 1946 in

Medical career

He received a Doctor of Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

), specializing in nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and oncology. Since 1992 he has been full professor there. Since 1990 he has been the head of the Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine of the Sisters of Mercy University Hospital in Zagreb. He has been President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) since 1 January 2011, having previously been an associate member from 1992 to 2000 and full member since 2000, in addition to being Secretary of the Department of Medical Sciences and member of the presidency from 2004–2010.

Administrative positions

He is the founder of the Croatian Thyroid Society, and was formerly its chairman. He was also chairman of the Thyroid Diseases Reference Center and chairman of the Commission on Endemic

Goiter A goitre, or goiter, is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are caused by iodine deficiency. The term is ...

and

Iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

Prophylaxis of the Ministry of Health and Social Care since 1992. He initiated the new Act on Salt Iodination, which was adopted in 1996. The result of that action was the elimination of goiter and other disorders caused by

iodine deficiency Iodine deficiency is a lack of the trace element iodine, an essential nutrient in the diet. It may result in metabolic problems such as goiter, sometimes as an endemic goiter as well as congenital iodine deficiency syndrome due to untreated cong ...

, which was acknowledged by the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD). As of 2012 he is a member of the Croatian National Health Council as well as a member of the Regional Council for Biomedical Sciences at the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports. Other memberships include Council for Nuclear Medicine and of the Council for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Ministry of Health and Social Care and the board of directors of the Croatian Oncology Society.

Research

Kusić received scientific training and was an invited professor at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

in London, Michigan University in Ann Arbor, Cornell University in New York and the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Endocrine Course among others. Among his specialties are malignant tumors. In this area, he has successfully cooperated with some of the world's most prestigious medical centers, organizations and leading experts, such as William Henry Beierwaltes,

David Becker David Becker (born 20 October 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute. Career David and his brother Bruce (drummer) formed the David Becker Tribune and toured ...

, Eugen Saenger and others. He has published over 600 publications, a substantial number of which is indexed in tertiary publications and cited. He has authored or edited a number of scientific and professional books, encyclopedic editions and textbooks. He was the principal researcher in a series of Croatian and a number of major international scientific projects.

Memberships

Zvonko Kusić, FCA, is member of a series of professional and scientific Croatian and international associations and the representative of Croatia at the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders; he is further editor-in-chief of the ''Bulletin of the Croatian Thyroid Society'', associate editor-in-chief of the Libri Oncologici journal, and member of the editorial board of ''The Thyroid Gland – Clinical and Experimental''. He used to be editor-in-chief of the internationally indexed ''Acta Clinica Croatica'' journal (Medline / Science Citation Index Expended).

Awards

His awards include: *

Order of Danica Hrvatska The Order of Danica Hrvatska ( hr, Red Danice hrvatske; lit. "Order of the Croatian Morning Star") is the fourteenth most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on 1 April 1995. The medal is awarded for different p ...

* Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Award for exceptional and permanent contribution to medical science * Croatian Life Achievement Award for Science *

Homeland's Gratitude Medal Homeland's Gratitude Medal ( hr, Spomenica domovinske zahvalnosti) is the 19th most important medal in the Croatian honours system. The Homeland's Gratitude Medal has four classes, each for the length of service of 5, 10, 15, and 20 or more yea ...

Order of the Croatian Trefoil The Order of the Croatian Trefoil ( hr, Red hrvatskog trolista) is the sixteenth most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on 1 April 1995. The medal is awarded for excellence in war, direct war danger or in ext ...

References

Sources

Zvonko Kusić biography
at the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kusic, Zvonko Croatian nuclear medicine physicians Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts 1946 births Living people Scientists from Zagreb