A professor of the University of Debrecen is to head a European professional organization 14. Oct. 2025

The world's largest professional meeting of pulmonology experts, the congress of the European Respiratory Society, was held in Amsterdam at the end of September. There were more than 22,000 professionals from as many as 160 countries participating in the five-day event. 

It was at the meeting of the general assembly held during the course of this professional event that the new leaders of the ERS were inaugurated, including the new Secretary General, Ildikó Horváth, Department Head and Professor at the University of Debrecen and Director of UD’s Pulmonology Clinic.
“My present appointment means that this is going to be the first time that a Hungarian professional is going to hold this job since our society was founded, and it is only the second time that this is going to be someone from Central and Eastern Europe. The inauguration itself is not too ceremonial; it is more of an announcement and notification for the members about the fact that I will be performing the duties of Secretary General between 2025 and 2028. The election took place last year and, so far, I have participated in the board meetings as an observer, which has proved to be very good preparation for this complex work,” said Ildikó Horváth to hirek.unideb.hu.

Ildikó Horváth is positive that other experts working at the University of Debrecen would also benefit from her election as secretary general. She hopes that even her young colleagues would be able to become more closely involved in the activities of the society's special working groups and in the designing of future plans, participating in various ERS educational events, which will speed up the integration of the latest professional knowledge into medical practice.

As Secretary General of the European Respiratory Society, her first task will be to revise and update the society's statutes and to prepare the professional work intended to be implemented by the member societies during the upcoming years. In addition, she and her colleagues will be assessing and evaluating the cooperation and joint work carried out so far with the American Thoracic Society while they have already begun to lay the cornerstones of educational and research cooperation with the Chinese Thoracic Society.

Press Center - CzA