Director of the Institute “Dedinje” Prof. dr Milovan Bojić

Director of the Institute “Dedinje”

Biographical data and professional career

Director of the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases “Dedinje” Prof. dr Milovan Bojić, NS Biographical data and professional career Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS was born in Kolašin, where he finished primary and secondary school with excellent achievements. He enrolled the studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, where he graduated, obtained his Master’s degree, finished his residency and received his Doctorate degree with great success. His was first employed with the Institute for Student Health Care, University of Belgrade, and then in 1991 he received a position at the Clinical Center of Serbia. Since 1993, he has been employed with what was known back then as the Clinic for Cardiovascular Diseases “Dedinje”, which is now the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases “Dedinje” (hereinafter: the Institute).

master’s thesis “Relationship between functional changes at the level of the cardiovascular system and blood plasma biochemical parameters in case of hyperthyroidism”, in the field of internal medicine, in February 1986, at the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Belgrade.

He defended his doctoral dissertation, “The importance of prostaglandins and adrenergic mechanisms in the cardiovascular system reactivity to physical activity”, in the field of internal medicine (cardiology), in 1990 at the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Belgrade.

During his three decades of work at the Institute for Student Health Care, the Clinical Center of Serbia and the Institute, Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS has been continuously improving and growing to become an outstanding expert in the field of cardiology. He began his professional and scientific work in an original and unusual manner. As a novice clinical doctor coming from the Institute for Student Health Care, he independently defended his original professional paper entitled “Hyperthyroidism in the June Exam Term” at the Fifth Yugoslav Thyroid Gland Symposium, with international participants and received recognition and encouragement practically at the very beginning of his career. From that moment onwards Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS went through all instances of professional and scientific work and lefts his original mark and contribution in each one of them. He followed the path of a researcher who combined preclinical and clinical cardiology, introduced multidisciplinarity and multi-institutionality in cardiac research and clinical practice, and made it more specific with the quantity and quality of his scientific publications and scientific meetings at the highest level he organized.

He introduced new methods into cardiovascular medicine in our country: heart and liver transplantation, implantation of a partial artificial heart, implantation of a total artificial heart, 1 surgical ventricular remodeling operation – Batista procedure, implantation of a cardioverter defibrillator, TAVI procedure (percutaneous transcatheter aortic valve implantation), MitraClip procedure (percutaneous approach to treating significant mitral regurgitation), as well as many others. He was the founder and head of the Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology, the first of its kind in our country, which was active at the Institute in the period 1995-2000. Upon invitation, he has given a number of lectures at professional and scientific gatherings in Italy, the USA, China and Russia.

He attended professional training in Italy – Niguarda Clinic, Texas Heart Institute in Houston, Cleveland Clinic in America, etc.

In the period 1992-2000 he was the Director of the Institute for the first time, and in 2017 he again became the Director of this renowned Institution. During his first term, the Institute experienced both clinical and scientific renaissance driven by the progressive mission and vision of Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić. The Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases “Dedinje” became the leading clinic for cardiovascular diseases in this part of Europe. Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, full-time professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, established and managed the teaching base of the said faculty at the Institute. This marked the beginning of a new era in the development of internal medicine, after which, thanks to the efforts of prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, the teaching base of the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade expanded to include the fields of cardiovascular surgery, radiology and anesthesiology.

Significant scientific research commenced by establishing the teaching base, along with the education of students and the improvement of professional work at the Institute. The professor established the Center for Scientific Research and in the given period numerous studies in the field of cardiovascular medicine were conducted. Results of these studies were presented at major international congresses and published in elite international journals.

During his second term, Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS has raised the level of activity at the Institute, which, according to the number of open heart surgeries in 2019, has become the first center of its kind in Europe. Various new procedures have been introduced, such as implantation of a total artificial heart, TAVI procedure, MitraClip, etc. His three-decade long dream of a new building and accordingly even better conditions for the clinical and scientific development of the Institute turned into reality in 2020. The Institute obtained health care accreditation for its work in 2018 shortly after he was nominated the Director of the Institute. In the summer of 2020, the Institute also became scientifically accredited, i.e. it was given the status of scientific and research organization (SRO) in the Republic of Serbia. In the summer of 2021 the Center for Scientific and Research Activity in Cardiovascular Medicine was recognized and accredited as a Center of Excellence by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Encouraged by the scientific vision of Prof. Milovan Bojić, NS, 7 projects in the field of cardiovascular medicine were recently submitted to the Science Fund of the Ministry of Science, Education and Technological Development. The plan is to establish a state-of-the-art scientific center in the field of cardiovascular medicine in this part of Europe, which will be a necessary prerequisite for achieving the highest level of scientific results in the near future.

Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS has organized (President of the Organizing and Scientific Committee) a significant number of international scientific conferences throughout his career, of which the last two major meetings include 12 ^th Branislav “Brano” Radovancevic Heart Failure Forum, Innovations and New Treatment Strategies in Heart Failure, held in the period September 18 th – 21 st , 2019 in Belgrade as well as Dedinje Workshop 2020 which was held October 28 th – 29 th , 2020, Dedinje Workshop 2021, which was held in April 2021.

He was elected a full-time professor at the Department of Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka in 2019.

Scientific research

Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS was the founder and head of the Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology, the first of its kind in our country, which was active within the ICVD “Dedinje” in the period 1995-2000 with a significant number of publications in the field of endothelial dysfunction which were published in recognized domestic and international journals. As an associate, he participated in three scientific research projects supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the manager of the scientific research project “Endothelium and Cardiovascular Diseases”, which was also funded by this Ministry. He participated in a number of academic studies conducted at the ICVD “Dedinje” results of which were published in the most prestigious cardiology journals (see the list of published papers). As a researcher, he participated in a large number of sponsored scientific studies which were conducted or are currently in progress at the ICVD “Dedinje”. One of his main goals now that he is the director of ICVD “Dedinje””is the scientific development of this institution, which includes the need for establishing stronger connections with the most famous cardiovascular institutes in France, Germany and the USA.

Engagement in education and professional development of scientific and professional staff

In the capacity of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Serbia, although without the approval of the competent institutions, he organized and hired about 1000 most successful graduates of the Faculties of Medicine in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac and Pristina. These employees later became the backbone and main support of the health care system of the Republic of Serbia, and they are still known to the public as “Bojić’s babies”.

ince 2020, under the strong initiative of Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, 56 medical doctors employed at the Institute were promoted and awarded scientific and research titles.

Memberships in various associations and other scientific and professional activities

Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić is a member of the Cardiology Society of Serbia, the European Society of Cardiology, the International Union of Angiology.

Publication citing frequency

Papers by Prof. dr Milovan Bojić without autocitations were cited 757 times according to the data obtained by searching the SCOPUS index database. The number of heterocitations for each published scientific paper individually is listed under each paper given in the next chapter of this document. The Hirsch index according to the SCOPUS index base is 16. According to the Google scholar database, Dr. Bojić’s papers have been cited 1,013 times in total.

Analysis of papers

Papers in which prof. dr. Milovan Bojić is referred to as author and co-author cover the entire field of cardiovascular medicine. In addition to his main scientific interest, which refers to basic research on endothelial function with numerous scientific publications, the Professor has been extensively collaborating with various research teams in numerous projects addressing basic and clinical medicine in the field of heart disease, heart muscle disease, valvular heart disease, vascular surgery and cardiac surgery.

Papers in which Professor Bojić is the author and co-author have been presented more than once at the world’s most elite scientific gatherings, such as the annual congresses of the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and the European Congress of Cardiologists. What is particularly valuable is the fact that all these preliminary announcements have been converted into a large number of papers in extenso in supreme world’s journals in the field of cardiology, cardiac surgery and vascular surgery, indexed in Index Medicus and Current Contents such as: Circulation, Journal of American College of Cardiology, American Journal of Cardiology, American Heart Journal, European Heart Journal, Heart, American Journal of Medicine, Journal of Vascular Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Cardiovascular Surgery, European Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, Clinical Cardiology, Cardiology, International Journal of Cardiology, Angiology. These journals have the highest “impact factor” in the field of cardiovascular medicine, which, on its own, speaks volumes about the scientific value of articles published in them. Most of these papers represent cutting-edge scientific contributions.

The overview of several outstanding papers is given hereinafter:

Prof. Dr. Milovan Bojić, NS is the author of 4 monographs that became a part of mandatory professional literature in full-time and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, and 11 chapters in textbooks. The paper published in the most renowned cardiac journal – Circulation (article No. 5 in the category M21a, 1/62 categorized in the domain of journals of cardiovascular medicine), focuses on the analysis of the clinical applicability of 4 “wavelet” methods for tissue characterization in detecting myocardial vitality after acute myocardial infarction. Two – dimensional echocardiographic images were analyzed in 37 patients, taken on the second and seventh day as well as three weeks after acute myocardial infarction. In addition, histopathological changes in the myocardium of nine dogs with experimental infarction were correlated with measures of myocardial texture obtained by analysis of two-dimensional echocardiograms, in the same way as in patients. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of the “wavelet” method were determined in detecting reperfusion of 73%, 86%, i.e. 78% on the second day, 91%, 86%, i.e. 89% on the seventh day and 100%, 100%, i.e. 100% three weeks after the acute event. An experimental study in dogs demonstrated that histopathological changes in the myocardium were associated with the accurate classification of the myocardium into the reperfused, i.e. non-reperfused by applying “wavelet” method, as well as in relation to the assessment of the extent of myocardial necrosis. It was concluded that using the “wavelet” method for tissue characterization enabled distinguishing a vital myocardium with the potential for functional recovery from a myocardium that has suffered definitive necrosis. This paper attracted a lot of attention from the world scientific community which resulted in an editorial devoted to it in the same issue of the journal.

The paper published in the American Heart Journal (article No. 6 in the category M21, 12/67 categorized in the domain of journals of cardiovascular medicine) focused on analyzing data referring to the presence of symptoms and signs of cardiac insufficiency at hospital admission and left ventricular remodeling in a one-year period after myocardial infarction. It was determined that patients with cardiac insufficiency upon admission (Kilip classification group 2-4) have higher initial left ventricular volumes, lower ejection fraction and higher left ventricular wall motion score index, and that, in these patients, the left ventricle continues to dilate progressively during the one-year period. On the contrary, there was an improvement in left ventricular function during the one-year period in patients without signs of cardiac insufficiency upon admission (Kilip classification group 1). It was concluded that early and late left ventricular dilatation occurred in patients with acute myocardial infarction and Kilip classification group > 1 upon admission to the hospital. Patients with Kilip classification group 1 do not remodel the left ventricle in the period of one year after the infarction and their left ventricular function may improve. Results of this study show for the first time the prognostic value of the famous Kilip classification of patients with acute myocardial infarction.>

The paper published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery(article No. 8 in the category M21), included the largest European series of patients who underwent the so-called Batista procedure, which was introduced in our country at the ICVD “Dedinje” along with the world’s largest clinics. It was demonstrated that early hemodynamic improvement after this operation was maintained for the period of 6 months, which was the first time that this data had been published in the world.

In the paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (article No. 6 in the category M21a, 3/62 categorized in the domain of journals of cardiovascular medicine) research on functional changes in the cardiovascular system after 5 Batista procedures was continued. Unique data were published explaining the beneficial effects of this new procedure on the functional state of the myocardium.

An association between ventricular arrhythmias and left ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction was investigated in the paper published in the journal Heart (article No. 15 in the category M22). It was concluded that complex ventricular arrhythmias after infarction were rather associated with an increase in left ventricular volume than with a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction. Complex arrhythmias could be an etiological factor linking left ventricular remodeling with increased mortality.

The submitted papers by dr Milovan Bojić also include a large number of papers published in the most eminent journals or presented at the largest medical gatherings. Their detailed analysis is limited by the volume of this document, but this most certainly does not diminish their exceptional creative, professional and scientific contribution. These are papers in the field of fundamental cardiology, echocardiography and pharmacotherapy of immunomodulatory therapy of viral myocarditis. These papers are characterized by their exceptional, practical and scientific application, since they emerged as a result of new procedures introduced at ICVD “Dedinje” and the cooperation of this Institute with leading institutions for cardiology and cardiac surgery in Europe and the world.

International cooperation

Prof. Milovan Bojić has constantly strived for close clinical and scientific cooperation with the world’s leading cardiovascular clinics. This resulted in establishing a fruitful cooperation with the Niguarda Clinic (Italy); Herman Memorial Hospital Houston (USA); Cleveland Clinic (USA); Weill Cornell Medical College, New York (USA); Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia); Policlinico San Donato, Milan (Italy); USZ- Universitats Spital Zurich; ACTION Study Group, INSERM UMRS 1166, Institut de Cardiologie, Pitié- Salpêtrière Hospital (AP-HP), UPMC Sorbonne Universités – Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Université Paris 6), Paris, France; Heart Center Leipzig, Leipzig University (Germany); University Medical Center Goettingen, GeorgAugust University (Germany); Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (USA). Recognized and large international projects strongly encouraged by Prof. M. Bojić are performed in ICVDD, and as such, the Institute participates actively in the creation of world’s guidelines for treating cardiovascular diseases. In the last few years, the RADIAL and ROMA projects have determined the treatment method and surgical care in coronary heart disease. This large and internationally recognized ROMA project provided the opportunity for establishing close cooperation with Weill Cornell University, New York, USA. Both projects resulted in scientific papers with significant results published in distinguished and most important world journals. Thanks to international cooperation, scientific research at the Institute is recognized in Europe and the world and contributes to the highest quality of health care services provided by this Institution.

Quality of scientific results

Impact, quality parameters of the journal and positive citation of papers

Collective impact factor of all papers by Prof. M. Bojić published in journals of international importance is 96,508.

Papers by Prof. M. Bojić have been published and cited in the most recognized journals in the field of cardiovascular medicine (see the list of publications).