Željko Reiner
Željko Reiner born in 1953 in Zagreb, Croatia. He is a member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ; Croatian: Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica) and former Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
Political Career
From 1993 to 1998 he was the Deputy Minister of Health, and from 1998 to 2000 Minister of Health of the Republic of Croatia. Since 2010 he has been the President of the National Health Council of the Republic of Croatia. Since 2008 he has been member of the Health and Social Policy Committee of the Croatian Parliament. From 2011 to 2012 he was vice-chairman of the Science, Education and Culture Committee of the Croatian Parliament (he is still member of the Committee). He is a member of the Inter-parliamentary Cooperation Committee, substitute member of the Croatian Parliament’s Delegation to the Parliamentary Dimension of the Central European Initiative, and since 2012 he is Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament.
Education
In 1976 Reiner graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb (MD). In 1978 he obtained his Master's degree (MSc), and in 1982 his doctoral degree (PhD), both from the University of Zagreb. From 1979 until 1983 he completed his residency training at the Department of Internal medicine at University Hospital Center Sisters of Mercy in Zagreb and at the University Hospital Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany. He completed his postdoctoral training in Oklahoma City, USA, from 1984 till 1985.
Special Achievements
He has been a fellow of the Croatian Academy of Medical Sciences since 1990, and was its president from 2004 to 2012. From 1992 to 2006 he was an associate member of the Croatian National Academy of Arts and Sciences and became a full fellow in 2006. He is the Chairman of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Atherosclerosis Committee. He is the first Croat to be the main author of any major European guidelines – ESC/EAS European Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidaemia published in 2011. He was one of the three members of the committee for awarding one of the most prestigious WHO prizes in medicine – the "Leon Bernard Prize". From 1995 to 1998 he was member of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) – as the second Croat in history who made part of this highest governing body of the WHO. Since 2012 he has been one of the six members of the Executive Board of the International Atherosclerosis Society (IAS), in which he represents Europe. He was an expert reviewer of the European Commission for the evaluation of research projects proposed to be funded within the FP6 and FP7. Professor Željko Reiner is also an acknowledged Croatian poet. His poetry has been published since 1970 in magazines Forum, Kaj and many others. He has published several books of poetry. His poems have been included in several anthologies. He is member of the Croatian Writers’ Association. He participated as a volunteer in the Croatian War of Independence from the very beginning as a member of the Croatian Medical Corps, in which he was second in command in charge of training and education, and later of medical staff. He was awarded a number of civil and military decorations. In the Croatian Army he has the rank of reserve colonel. He has been an honorary citizen of the city of Korčula since 2007.
