Vice-rector for clinical affairs and medical research development
Prof. Dr. habil. Michał Zembala, M.D., Ph.

Professor Michał Zembala, MD, is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the Silesian Medical Academy in Katowice, Poland. He also completed the Surgical Leadership Program study at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was awarded the title of Professor of Medical and Health Sciences in 2021.

During his career, he was, among other things, head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Heart and Lung Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze. He has held academic and research fellowships at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University in New York and Harvard University Regenerative Medicine Laboratory. Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor, he served as Plenipotentiary of the Rector of the Catholic University of America for Clinical Affairs, Research Development and Medical Sciences.

Among other things, Prof. Zembala treats patients with severe heart failure, performs heart transplants and implants artificial heart chambers and artificial hearts. He was the first in Poland to perform artificial heart implantation and performed successful heart retransplants, introducing this procedure into the standards of medical procedure. He is also a recognized expert in the field of transcatheter treatment of aortic valve disease, a technique he teaches to doctors at home and abroad.