

The Medical University of Silesia (SUM)
The Medical University of Silesia (SUM) was established in 1948 and has become large Higher Education Institution. Now in five schools is provided process of education on 13 fields of studies focused on preparing specialists for work in various communities and national health care system. Medical University of Silesia provides education to over 9000 students, PhD and postgraduate students. The University maintains various forms of cooperation with foreign research centers and universities worldwide through: joint research, participation in international programs and research projects, joint publications and participation in scientific conferences. The Department of Nursing Propaedeutics (coordinating Department of the METEOR project) is part of the Faculty of Health Sciences in Katowice SUM, plays a leading role in the practical education in nursing, studies social and psychological determinants of health and quality of life. Department of Epidemiology – part of the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, provides education in epidemiology, environmental health, public health and biostatistics, conducts research in environmental and clinical epidemiology.
Project Staff
Szymon Szemik
Szymon Szemik Sociologist. He works as an assistant professor at the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland). He received PhD in the field of Health Sciences (2018). Is currently involved in METEOR project and also POLLEK cohort study aimed at assessing mental health and quality of life among medical students and young doctors in Poland. Moreover, is an author of more than 20 scientific articles and conference papers. He participated in
a Short Term Scientific Mission at the KU Leuven within COST Action 16216 – OMEGA-NET: Network on the Coordination and Harmonization of European Occupational Cohorts. His interests are in socio-economic and psychological determinants of health, conducting cohort studies, quality of life and health inequalities.
Małgorzata Kowalska
Małgorzata Kowalska is a full professor in the field of medical sciences and is a specialist in environmental health and epidemiology. She works at the Department of Epidemiology of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice. She is the author of more than 300 scientific publications (HI=9) and is interested mainly in socio-economic determinants of health, quality of life, air pollution epidemiology and respiratory diseases. She is a member of Management Committee of in COST Action 16216 – OMEGA-NET: Network on the Coordination and Harmonization of European Occupational Cohorts. She carried out many international scientific projects, among others EU grants, such as: “Scientific Support to Policies: Development of macro and sectoral economic models aiming to evaluate the role of public health externalities on society (DROPS)” (2005-2007), “Health impact assessment in new member states and accession countries HIA-NMAC” (2005-2007), “E2SP – Environmental Enterprise Service Provider”, “Take A Breath! – Adaptation Actions to reduce adverse health impacts of air pollution” (2013-2014), “AWAIR – Environmental integrated, multilevel knowledge and approaches to counteract critical air pollutions, improving vulnerable citizens quality of life In Central Europe Functional Areas” (2014-2020).
Maksymilian Gajda
Maksymilian Gajda Medical doctor and specialist of clinical oncology. He works as a research and teaching assistant at the Department of Epidemiology of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland) and also at the National Research Institute of Oncology (Gliwice branch). He received PhD in the field of epidemiology (2017). Is co-responsible (among others projects) for the POLLEK cohort study aimed at assessing quality of life of medical students and physicians in Poland. He is the author of more than 20 publications and reviews manuscripts for scientific journals. Dr. Maksymilian Gajda participates in COST Action 16216 – OMEGA-NET: Network on the Coordination and Harmonization of European Occupational Cohorts. Moreover, he is a member of Polish Society of Clinical Oncology. His fields of interest include cross-sectional and cohort studies, socio-economic determinants of health, cancer prevention and vaccinations hesitancy.