Emil Monos

After graduating from Semmelweis University of Medicine (SOTE), he joined the Institute of Human Physiology; in 1983 he became a university professor there. From 1990, he was the director of the institute for a decade. In addition, he served as the Vice-Rector for Education of the University between 1995 and 2000. In the meantime, he worked as a visiting professor at the Institute of Physiology of the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, USA) for 2 years. Between 1995 and 2017, he directed a PhD training program in circulatory physiology within the framework of the Doctoral School of SOTE, and between 2000 and 2005, he also headed the Doctoral School of Theoretical Medicine. The Department of Medical Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences elected him the chairman of the then newly established Medical Informatics Working Committee.

He was one of the initiators and main organizers of the biomedical engineering training program launched jointly with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), and participated in the work of the committee as the rector's representative, in which he represented SOTE (later Semmelweis University (SE)) as vice-chair until his death. (As of 2019, the memory of all this is preserved by the Monos Emil Scholarship established for outstanding biomedical engineering students.)

As a scientific researcher, he made a lasting contribution: he is credited with the system analysis of important biomechanical and electrophysiological features and regulatory mechanisms of the circulatory system, and the recognition of adaptation mechanisms to gravitational loading; he was one of the world's leading experts in the physiology of venous circulation. He recognized the role of computer technology in healthcare and biomedical science early on: as a pioneer, he advocated the cooperation of computers and physiological instruments, as well as the use of nonlinear control models. (He collaborated with colleagues from the Department of Automation of the Budapest University of Technology (BME) and the Bockus Research Institute of the University of Pennsylvania in successful and fruitful research for years.)

He was the editor-in-chief of the periodical Acta Physiologica Hungarica from 1998; and honorary editor-in-chief from 2015. He has published approximately 460 publications, and 6 university monographs supplementing textbooks (2 in English).

He was the Secretary General and President of the Hungarian Physiological Society for 8 years, and then the Chairman of the Ethics Committee for 4 years. He was the organizing chairman of the 4th World Congress of the International Society of Pathophysiology in Budapest in 2002, where he was elected President of the society for 4 years and then an honorary member of the board. He was a member of the Hungarian Biological Society, the Hungarian Society of the History of Medicine, among others. He is an elected member of several European academies, academic societies (London, Salzburg, Brussels) and numerous other international scientific societies.
He chaired the Health Sciences College of the Hungarian Scholarship Committee for 18 years; and until 2011, he was the chairman of the Medical Informatics Working Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Scientific Ethics Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Between 1974-96 he was a member of the board of the Medical Biology Department of the National Institute of Health Sciences. Between 1970-76 he was a regular lecturer at the Neumann Colloquia (12 lectures!). In 2015 he received the National Institute of Health Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award.

His most important awards: Ernő Jendrassik Memorial Medal (SOTE, 1978); Excellent Teacher (SOTE, 1984); For Excellent Work (Ministry of Health, 1989); Excellent Scientific Student Club Educator (SE, 1993); Albert Szent-Györgyi Award (Minister of Education, 1995); László Batthyány-Strattmann Award (Minister of Health, 2001); Sámuel Rácz Memorial Medal (Hungarian Physiological Society, 2003); Academic Publishing House Award (Academic Publishing House, 2006); Middle Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (Hungarian Government, 2015). Additionally: István Weszprémi Memorial Medal (Hungarian Society of the History of Medicine); Lifetime Achievement Award (Serbian Physiological Society); Pro Universitate Award (SE); Pro Facultate Award (BME Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics). At its meeting on May 31, 2018, the Senate of the SE awarded the Semmelweis Ignác Award to Professor Emeritus Dr. Emil Monos.