Professor Adrian Covic - "Doctor Honoris Causa" of "Nicolae Testemitanu" University

The Senate of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of Moldova conferred the Doctor Honoris Causa honorary title upon Professor Dr. Adrian Covic, vice-rector for scientific research at Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iași, Romania, head of Nephrology-Internal Medicine Clinic, member of the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Romanian Academy of Scientists, president of the Romanian Society of Nephrology. The ceremony took place on May 13, during the MedEspera 2022 international congress for students and young doctors. 

The high title was awarded as a sign of appreciation of his activity at the national and international level, his significant contribution to the establishment and promotion of collaborative relationships between universities and the training and professional development of medical specialists and pharmacists, for the national health system needs, and of the didactic, scientific-didactic and scientific staff, as well as to the development and promotion of scientific research and the enhancement of international relations and visibility of our institution in the country and abroad.

In Laudatio, the rector of Nicolae Testemitanu, professor Emil Ceban, emphasized the evolution of the cooperation of university professor Adrian Covic with the members of the Urology and Nephrology Department of our university. "The information and documentation visits, the exchange of experience through training courses for the scientific and didactic staff, as well as for nephrologists, have intensified. We owe the development of the Nephrology specialty in the Republic of Moldova to the distinguished professor Covic. He supports the training of young scientific staff by ensuring doctoral theses co-supervision and directly participates as an official referent or member of specialized scientific councils on doctoral theses and Habilitated Doctor dissertations in medical sciences. By virtue of the responsible functions he exercises, Professor Covic has provided advisory help and treated several patients from our country with various complicated nephrological pathologies".

On behalf of the Senate, Rector Emil Ceban expressed his gratitude to Dr. Adrian Covic for his input in expanding future directions of cooperation in the fields of medical training and research, academic mobility of teachers and students, in carrying out joint scientific research and other projects. "Professor Adrian Covic is a well-known personality, with an indisputable authority in Romania and the entire world", concluded the rector. 

University professor Adrian Tanase, head of the Department of Urology and Surgical Nephrology, spoke in support of the Senate's decision, noting that thanks to the sustainable partnership and the direct assistance of Professor Covic, conferences, congresses, symposia, and other scientific events had been organized. Thus, based on the inter-institutional partnership between the International Society of Nephrology, Dr. C.I. Parhon Clinical Hospital from Iași, Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Timofei Moșneaga Republican Clinical Hospital, specialists in the nephrology area from the Republic of Moldova have benefited from internships abroad and participation in nephrology congresses. Also, Prof. Covic donated numerous copies of books used by doctors in their practical and didactic activities.

"On behalf of the Dialysis Specialist Commission of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, I express my gratitude for the medical assistance given to patients suffering from chronic end-stage kidney disease in our country, who were accepted for treatment and transplantation in hemodialysis centers of Iasi”, emphasized Professor Tănase.

Moreover, university professor Liliana Groppa, head of Rheumatology and Nephrology Discipline of the Internal Medicine Department, made an extensive presentation on the contribution of Professor Adrian Covic, specifying that his distinctive features such as high professionalism, openness to collaboration, collegiality, passion for research and intensive clinical activity led to the initiation of a series of projects over the years. Dr. Liliana Groppa listed several completed joint projects, due to which it was possible to train nephrologists from the Republic of Moldova at the Transplant Center in Iasi, the collaboration between medical laboratories from the two countries, etc. "Currently, Dr. Adrian Covic is part of the supervising committee of three doctoral students from the Discipline of Rheumatology and Nephrology of Nicolae Testemitanu University. Multiple textbooks and monographs published under the coordination of Professor Covic are of inestimable value for students, resident doctors, and nephrologists", stressed Prof. Liliana Groppa.

For his part, Professor Adrian Covic declared that he greatly appreciated the decision of the University Senate on the conferment of the honorary title Doctor Honoris Causa and assured that, as an academic, he would continue to remain available for the development of joint projects.

"It was difficult to come before such an informed audience as yours. Thank you for choosing to honor me with this title at a student congress. I feel at home here, and without family you can't do anything. The real hero of my career is my wife Adina Covic, without whom I could not have done anything in my life. This fully confirms the idea that there is no place like home," noted the professor. 

In the end, Prof. Dr. Adrian Covic held an extraordinary lecture for the members of the university community titled "Mysteries of nature - a potential answer for contemporary medicine".

Adrian Covic was born on May 6, 1967. After graduating from Costache Negruzzi College in Iasi, in 1985, he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine of Grigore T. Popa Iasi University of Medicine and Pharmacy, which he graduated from in 1991. In the same year, through a competition, he started teaching at the Nephrology-Internal Medicine Clinic, where, over the course of more than 3 decades, he excelled in his career climbing all the levels of university hierarchy, from university trainer in 1991, university assistant in 1994, senior lecturer in 2000, Associate Professor in 2002, up to university professor from 2004 to the present. The distinguished professor stood out for his pedagogical and managerial qualities as dean of the Faculty of General Medicine of Gr. T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, a position he exercised with great dedication from 2004 to 2008.

In parallel with his pedagogical activity, the young specialist engaged in intensive scientific research work. Since 1992, he has completed several research internships at universities in England, Belgium, France, and the United States of America. In 1997, he defended his doctoral thesis in medical sciences on the topic "The study of cardiovascular changes in chronic renal failure and the determining factors according to the modality of renal replacement". The scientific achievements of scientist Adrian Covic materialized in more than 600 articles, including about 400 - with an impact factor, as well as 31 books, published by national and international publishing houses, including treatises, monographs, manuals, medical practice guides. The Hirsch index shows us the scientific value of Professor Covic's publications, which in Web of Science is 64, in Scopus – 67, in Google Academic – 91, and the number of citations, which in Web of Science is 14,344, in Scopus – 14,459 and in Google Academic – 25,857.