A ProMED-mail post

Date: Sat 15 Sep 2007
From: Dr. Zuzana Sekeyova

Milan Labuda, D.Sc., former director of the Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) in Bratislava, passed away on Fri 31 Aug 2007, after a long illness.

Milan was born on 22 Mar 1945, in Oponice near Topolcany, in Slovakia. Between 1963 and 1968 he studied Natural Sciences at Commenius University in Bratislava. After graduation he worked as a technical assistant in the Slovak National Museum under the guidance of Dr. Okali. In 1970 he began work at the SAS, and he became Head of the Department of Ecology of Viruses in 1991. In 1995 he became director of the Institute of Zoology. He maintained this position until the end of 2006. In spite of his illness and associated fatigue, he supervised the Department of Medical Zoology. Under his leadership the institute recorded significant scientific growth, expansion of scientific contacts, and increased cooperation with other distinguished scientific institutions at home and abroad.

In 1975, Milan obtained a Ph.D. degree in the field of Parasitology, guided by Prof. Jaroslav Kramar on the subject "Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) as vectors of arboviruses in the lowland of Zahorie." In 1991, he isolated West Nile virus, the 1st time this had been accomplished in central Europe. In 1996 he obtained a D.Sc. degree in the Institute of Virology SAS in Bratislava in virology on the subject "Transmission of tick borne encephalitis virus: new view on the ecology of viruses transmitted by ticks". From then on, Milan devoted his scientific work to studies of ticks and tick-transmitted encephalitis viruses. His most outstanding result from this period was his contribution to the knowledge of the ecology of tick-borne encephalitis, particularly the resolution of the transmission and specific role of the ticks in this disease. He successfully disproved the hypothesis that viremia is the source of infection for hematophagous vectors.

Milan was a member of many societies and institute committees, of the Scientific Board of Faculty of Natural Sciences at Commenius University in Bratislava, member of a committee evaluating biological and ecological sciences, and the head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus Reference and Research, and was a member of the editorial boards of the scientific journals Folia parasitologica, Acta virologica, and Biologia. In addition, he was a member of several scientific societies, including the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Slovak Entomological Society SAS, and the Parasitological Society SAS. He trained several fortunate students and guided them in their research and in obtaining advanced degrees. Dr. Milan Labuda was an outstanding organizer of the research work. He headed many projects in Slovakia, as well as several distinguished international projects, including with NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology in Oxford, England and the 6th Frame program of the European Union.

Milan studied at: the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London; the Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri, Havana, Cuba; the National Institute of Virology, Pune, India; the Department of Microbiology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; the NERC Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Oxford, United Kingdom; and the Instituto Nacional de Saude, Aguas de Moura, Portugal. He was awarded many honors: Silver medal for his devotion in biological sciences at SAS, Bratislava (1995), D.I. Ivanovsky Medal, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (Moscow, 1996), Stanislav Prowazek Medal (Komarno, 2003), a prize for research-scientific work (2004), an SAS Decoration for Contribution to biological sciences (Bratislava, 2005), Prof. J. Hovorka Medal (Kosice, 2005), and the SAS Medal for supportive activities to sciences (2007). He co-authored 2 scientific monograph's: Special virology (1998) and Special epidemiology (2007); published 164 articles in peer-reviewed journals, many conference abstracts, 5 chapters in monographs, 9 textbook chapters, and so on -- an extremely productive scientific life.

Milan Labuda's principal feature was to spread his enthusiasm for scientific work to a wide range of collaborators. People like him seem to be rare nowadays. His fellow-workers, as well as those who worked with him from time to time, will miss him greatly.

Dr. Zuzana Sekeyova
Dr. Jaromir Pastorek
Institute of Virology
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Bratislava, Slovakia