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Jubilee with awards
Prof. Mieczysława Czerwionka-Szaflarska, Prof. Gerard Drewa, Prof. Arkadiusz Jawień, Prof. Jan Kopcewicz and Prof. Mariusz Wysocki are the first laureates of the Laurus Aesculapii Award, presented to persons of particular merit for the development of the Collegium Medicum and medical education at the Nicolaus Copernicus University. The statuettes were awarded during the jubilee ceremony at the Pomeranian Philharmonic Hall in Bydgoszcz.
In the 2024/2025 academic year, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń is celebrating three important jubilees: The 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz, the 20th anniversary of its merger with Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the establishment of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum, and the 80th anniversary of the University. The first two, relating to the tradition of medical education in Bydgoszcz, were celebrated on 25 November 2024. - almost exactly two decades after the Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń and the Medical Academy of Bydgoszcz joined forces.
On this occasion, the gala meeting of the NCU Senate and Rector's Council was held at the Pomeranian Philharmonic Hall in Bydgoszcz.
In his address on the occasion of the jubilee, Prof Andrzej Tretyn, NCU Rector, stressed that 'the unanimous decision of the Senate of the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz to join with the Toruń University was proof of courage and vision, of the ability to go beyond one's own environment and beyond the comfort zone of the familiar'.
Today, I think with respect and gratitude of all those who found this courage in themselves,' the Rector adds. - During this ceremony, we will be remembering many such people, but let me mention two at this point. Professor Danuta Miścicka-Śliwka, the then rector of the Medical Academy, saw an opportunity for her beloved University to become a strong medical education centre of European prestige and was able to convince the Academy community of her vision. Professor Jan Kopcewicz, then Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, was a great advocate of building strong regional universities capable of competing in the just-opening European space for research and education.
During the ceremony, a lecture on the history of the academic teaching of medicine in Bydgoszcz was given by Dr Krzysztof Nierzwicki, and the guests had the opportunity to listen to a joint performance by both university choirs: the NCU Academic Choir and the Collegium Medicum Choir.
At the unique gala, Collegium Medicum was awarded the Marshal's Medal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Unitas Durat Palatinatus Cuiaviano-Pomeraniensis. This highest marshal's decoration was awarded for special contributions to the region.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of Laurus Aesculapii awards to those who have made a special contribution to the development of the Collegium Medicum and medical education at the Nicolaus Copernicus University. The award, created in the Year of the Jubilees on the initiative of the Rector's authorities, is a way of honouring those who develop scientific research and the university's infrastructure, support the development of the academic staff, build international relations and cooperate with the socio-economic environment, and by their actions contribute to popularising the achievements of the Collegium Medicum, both at home and abroad.
The first laureates of the Laurus Aesculapii award were Prof. Mieczysława Czerwionka-Szaflarska, Prof. Gerard Drewa, Prof. Arkadiusz Jawień, Prof. Jan Kopcewicz and Prof. Mariusz Wysocki.
Professor Mieczysława Czerwionka-Szaflarska
- Head of the Department of Paediatrics, Allergology and Gastroenterology from 1989 to 2015
- Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for the terms 1990-1996
- Vice-Rector for Student Affairs in 1996-1999, and Vice-Rector for Science and International Cooperation in 2002-2004
- Plenipotentiary of the NCU Rector for Science and International Cooperation at Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz in the years 2004-2005
- Founder of the Association for Helping Children with Gluten Disease
- Director of the Postgraduate School of the Polish Paediatric Society in 1997-2015
- Long-term regional consultant in paediatrics
- Honoured by children with the Order of the Smile
- Awarded the medals 'Gloria Medicine' and 'Gloria Pediatriae'
- Laureate of the Oscar of Paediatrics
- Awarded, inter alia, with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Professor Gerard Drewa
- Interests: sozology, water pollution in the Gulf of Gdańsk, experimental oncology, cancer pathology, genetics, medical parasitology, bibliography, biography
- Between 1986 and 2010 Head of the Chair and Department of Medical Biology at the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz
- Co-author of the textbook 'Basics of genetics for students and doctors' (1995)
- Participant of the 4th expedition of the Scientific Research Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences to Antarctica
- Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for two terms, and in the years 1990-1996 Vice-Rector for Student Affairs
- Plenipotentiary of the Rector of the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz for the organisation of the Faculty of Nursing.
- Member of, among others, the Polish Physiological Society and the Polish Genetic Society
- Decorated with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Golden Cross of Merit.
Professor Arkadiusz Jawień
- Head of the Department of General Surgery from 1993 to 2024, currently the Department of Vascular Surgery and Angiology
- Director of the Centre for Medical Education in English at the NCU Collegium Medicum since 2009
- Specialises in vascular surgery and angiology
- Has introduced modern treatment of thoracoabdominal aneurysms in the region
- Was the only Pole ever elected to the board of the European Society for Wound Healing
- President of the Polish Society for Vascular Surgery from 2018 to 2020 and president of the European Society for Vascular Surgery in 2015
- Regional ambassador from 2010 to 2012
- Had his signature in the Autograph Alley of Bydgoszcz in 2018
- Doctor honoris causa of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Professor Jan Kopcewicz
- Co-author and scientific editor of successive editions of the core textbook 'Physiology of plants'
- Director of the Institute of Biology and Environmental Protection from 1975 to 1981
- Dean of the NCU Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences for two terms of office
- Vice-Rector of the NCU in 1981
- Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University for four terms of office
- During his term of office in 2004, the Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum and the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń successfully merged.
- For many years a member of the Physiology, Genetics and Plant Breeding Committee and the Botany Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
- Honorary member of the Polish Society of Experimental Plant Biology
- Awarded the 'Convallaria Copernicana' of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in 2011.
Professor Mariusz Wysocki
- Involved in the evaluation of outcomes of cancer treatment in children, tumour cell resistance to cytostatic agents and clinical immunology
- Head of the Department of Paediatrics, Haematology and Oncology from 2000 to 2022
- Creator of one of the largest bone marrow transplantation centres for children in northern Poland
- Plenipotentiary of the NCU Rector for Clinical Affairs and Postgraduate Education at the Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz in the years 2008-2012
- Co-founder and member of many scientific societies, e.g. Polish Society for Paediatric Oncology and Haematology or Children's Aid Society
- Laureate of numerous awards from the Rector and the Minister of Health and Social Welfare
- Honoured with the Bydgoszcz Man of the Year Award and the Bydgoszcz Autograph Award.
