In memoriam Prof. Dr. Ádám Balogh (1939-2023)

Prof. Dr. Ádám Balogh was born in Debrecen on 19 June 1939. He graduated from the Medical University of Debrecen in 1963 and started to work at the surgical ward of the Győr Hospital. In 1969, he was appointed assistant lecturer at the Department of Surgery of the Budapest Medical University. In 1973, he passed his specialty exam in chest surgery. In addition to general and chest surgery, he also trained in vascular surgery. Besides his work as a surgeon, he also carried out significant experimental surgical work.

In 1974, he was granted a one-year fellowship in the Netherlands, where he worked in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at St. Anthony's Hospital, Utrecht. Later, he was appointed assistant professor at the Department of Surgery of the National Institute of Oncology in Budapest. Here he did his board certification first in vascular surgery and then in clinical oncology. In 1981, he defended his doctoral thesis on endotoxin shock research.

In 1984, he became Head Surgeon at the Péterfy Sándor Hospital in Budapest. Under his management, the Department of Surgery evolved into one of the vascular surgical centres of the capital.

In 1993, he was appointed Head of the Department of Surgery at the Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University in Szeged. There he obtained a specialization in gastroenterology. Under his leadership, the multi-profile work of the department continued unabated, with special emphasis on tumour and vascular surgery. Prof. Balogh set up an oncological working group in collaboration with partner institutions.

During his career, in addition to experimental surgical research, he published 29 book chapters and 173 papers on thoracic and vascular surgery, and later on tumour surgery. In 2003, he became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

He served as a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals. He was Secretary General of the Hungarian Surgical Society for two years. In 1999, he was elected President of the Hungarian Cancer Society. In 1999, he was admitted to the Austrian Society of Surgeons as a Corresponding (Honorary) Member. He was elected Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1999, as well as Regional Vice President of the International Society of University Colon and Rectal Surgeons at the 2000 World Congress.

In 2019, he received the Pro Facultate Medicinae Award from the Faculty of Medicine in Szeged.

Professor Balogh continued to enhance the prestige of the renowned Department of Surgery in Szeged. He carried on his national and international clinical teaching and surgical fellowship activities until 2009. In 2009, at the age of 70, he received the title of Professor Emeritus from the University of Szeged.