Who is the laureate
Professor Lech Korniszewski is an outstanding physician, pediatrician and geneticist, appreciated for years both in the medical community and outside it. His professional activity is an example of an extraordinary combination of scientific knowledge, medical responsibility, personal courage and selfless service to others and is associated with our university.
The achievements of the Professor include many years of clinical, scientific and teaching activity. He conducted scientific research, supervised clinical work and was involved in the education of subsequent generations of physicians. He initiated the introduction of teaching clinical genetics at WUM, which is a lasting and significant contribution to the development of modern medical education in Poland. His scientific interests also included the issues of genetic determinants of hearing loss and mechanisms of hearing cell damage, which was important for the development of knowledge in the field of genetics and the medicine of hearing.
A special place in the Professor's biography is occupied by his involvement in Polish alpinism. In 1978–1989, he participated as a physician in ten mountain expeditions, including Changabang, Ngadi Chuli, Everest, Annapurna, Cho Oyu, Shishapangma and Gasherbrum I. The Professor's attitude was symbolized by the story of the Annapurna expedition. At its critical moment, guided by responsibility and concern for other participants, he went down for supplies, contributing to the success of the whole project.
Honorary Award
The Dr Tytus Chałubiński Medal was established to mark the following anniversaries in the 1989/1990 academic year: the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the first School of Surgery in Warsaw, the 180th anniversary of the founding of the Academic-Medical Faculty and the 100th anniversary of the death of the outstanding Warsaw physician, Dr Tytus Chałubiński. The Medal is an honorary distinction awarded by the Medal Committee to individuals who have contributed the most to the university. The medal was designed by the late medal author Edward Gorol. After his death, as the original edition had already run out, the university authorities proposed minting a new medal with the image of Dr Tytus Chałubiński on the obverse and the current emblem on the reverse. The project was developed by Anna Wątróbska-Wdowiarska.
