ZAGREB, 26 Nov 2021 - Two Croatian doctors, Gordana Drpa from the KBC Zagreb hospital, and Matej Šapina from KBC Osijek, are the winners of the 2021 International Medis Awards - a sort of medical Oscar for best research achievements in medicine and pharmacy.

The International Medis Awards for Medical Research rewards excellent researchers from nine countries in Central and Southeast Europe in nine medical fields and this year's winners were proclaimed in Ljubljana on Thursday.

Pulmonologist Gordana Drpa from Zagreb and paediatrician Matej Šapina from Osijek were awarded among 230 researchers who applied for this year's competition from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia.

Dr Drpa won in the area of pulmonology and allergology. She is the author of the first original article on how the ratio of neutrophils and lymphocytes can predict the outcome of extensive stages of lung cancer in small cells. The article was published in the Radiology and Oncology science journal.

Dr Šapina is the first author of an original scientific article dealing with research in geospatial grouping of children's IgA-vasculitis and nefritis syndrome. The article was published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

In addition to the two Croatian doctors, other laureates were Marin Jukić from Serbia (pharmacy), Christoph Grander from Austria (gastroenterology), Luka Roškar from Slovenia (gynaecology), Marija Vukoja from Serbia (intensive medicine and anaesthesiology), Aleksandra Tomić Pešić from Serbia (neurology), Fanka Gilevska from North Macedonia (ophthalmology) and Gorica Ristić from Serbia (rheumatology).

The competition was founded in 2014 by the Slovenian Medis pharmaceutical company and it is the main sponsor of the competition.

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ZAGREB, Dec 11, 2020 - Zagreb's University Hospital Centre (KBC) has been awarded the Ocar of Medicine for its outstanding achievement in medicine and outstanding efforts by medical staff at the Women's Hospital in taking care of patients, particularly premature babies during a strong earthquake in Zagreb in March.

With their selfless efforts medical staff and volunteers managed to transfer premature babies in incubators and their mothers to safety, it was said during the presentation ceremony.

The medical staff at the hospital were honoured for their expertise, organisation skills and huge solidarity shown.

International Medis Awards, better known as the Oscar of Medicine, have been given for seven years to the best doctors and pharmaceutical researchers for their work and achievements.

The KBC Zagreb also received a donation from the Medis pharmaceutical company, namely a device for UV-C decontamination of surfaces, which came just in time during the coronavirus pandemic.

The head of the neonatal ward in the Petrova Women's Hospital, Mirta Starcevic, recalled that there were 26 premature babies in the hospital when the earthquake struck on March 22, eight of them weighing less than 1.5 kilograms.

"That night a premature baby weighing 1,500 grams was born with numerous complications. When the earthquake struck we had to evacuate the building and the biggest problem was how to maintain the children's body temperature. All the doctors who were not on duty that day immediately came to the hospital. I have to say that the situation resembled a proper war zone. The thing that we are most proud of and pleased with is that we did not lose any of the babies in those circumstances, which is absolutely unbelievable," nurse Starcevic said.

The International Media Awards are annual awards presented for the best research by doctors and pharmacists in nine countries: Croatia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Hungary, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia.