Prof. Dr. Béla Merkely is the Chairman of the Department of Aviation and Space Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, he is also the Chair of the Semmelweis University Heart and Vascular Center. He received his M.D. degree from Semmelweis University in 1991. In addition, he is a member of the Hungarian Society of Cardiology (MKT), the Hungarian Society of Cardiac Surgery, the Hungarian Atherosclerosis Society, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and the International Society for Heart Research.