From Uzhhorod to the National Academy: Volodymyr Smolanka Elected Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine
Professor Volodymyr Smolanka, an academician of the World Academy of Neurosurgeons and a member of the Administrative Council (Presidium) of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS), has been elected a corresponding member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine in the specialty of “Neurosurgery.” The decision was adopted during the general assembly of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. For Zakarpattia, this event has significance that goes beyond personal professional recognition: it also represents the neurosurgical school established in Uzhhorod at one of the highest levels of Ukrainian medical science.
Scientists with significant achievements in their respective fields of medical science are elected as corresponding members of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. In Volodymyr Smolanka’s case, this decision is based on decades of clinical practice and scientific work, the development of neurosurgery in Zakarpattia, the training of a new generation of doctors and scientists, as well as the Ukrainian neurosurgeon’s long-standing active participation in the international professional community. Crucially, Smolanka’s scientific work throughout his entire professional career has been directly linked to clinical practice. Here, research does not exist in isolation from medicine—it must find its continuation in diagnosis, surgical treatment, and the implementation of modern techniques. For many years, he has been involved in the global and European professional communities, including leadership roles in the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies and the implementation of educational programs for the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies.
Volodymyr Smolanka’s professional path has unfolded at the intersection of three fields—medicine, science, and university education. He has been associated with Uzhhorod National University for many years, where he not only conducts his own scientific research but also helps shape the environment for training future doctors and researchers. Under his scientific guidance and consultation, dissertation research has been carried out, and new areas of work in the fields of neurosurgery and neurology have been established.
For Uzhhorod National University, this means strengthening the presence of its academic school within Ukraine’s academic community. For Zakarpattia medicine, it is further evidence that the expertise developed here can be in demand at the highest national and international levels. And for young doctors and researchers, this leads to perhaps the most important conclusion: you don’t have to look far to find a high level of medicine and science. It can be built right here—in Uzhhorod.
