Hrvoje Kniewald dr. med.

I was born in Zagreb on 11 April 1972. I went to primary and secondary school in Zagreb and graduated in 1990 from the Education Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science with excellent marks. In 1990 I enrolled in the School of Medicine in Zagreb and graduated without delay in July 1996 with a 4.2 average. During my studies, I worked as a student assistant at the Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology and Microbiology Chairs. I also actively participated in running the Student Tennis Section of the School of Medicine in the period from 1993 to 1996. I did a one-year internship as a volunteer at the Zagreb University Hospital Centre. Since 1994, I have been involved in professional and scientific activities at the Clinic of Paediatrics of the University Hospital Centre, and in the period before 1997, I volunteered at the Department of Neonatology and Intensive Care of the Clinic of Paediatrics. During that time, I participated in the preparation of a number of professional papers, as well as in continuous doctor training courses. From 3 November 1997 to February 2000, I was employed by the School of Medicine as a junior researcher at the School of Medicine in Zagreb on the project “Imunogenetika neuromišićnih i srčanih bolesti u djece” (Immunogenetics of neuromuscular and cardiac diseases in children), number 108-141, headed by Prof. Ivan Malčić, MD. My junior researcher status was interrupted from November 1998 to September 1999 due to regular military service in the Croatian Army, during which I graduated from the Officer Training School with high marks and attained the rank of the first lieutenant in the Croatian Army. I passed the state qualifying exam in October 1999. In 1998, I enrolled in postgraduate scientific studies at the School of Medicine in Zagreb in its first year and I completed the first and second years of study and then the third year of the doctoral programme at the same faculty. In 2001, I was selected as a paediatric resident at the Zagreb University Hospital Centre, which is why I terminated my employment at the School of Medicine. In July 2005 I passed the specialist paediatric exam and started working at the Department of Paediatric Cardiology of the Zagreb University Hospital Centre.