Tomislav Meštrović

Biography

Tomislav is a medical doctor (MD) with a PhD degree from the University of Zagreb, an MPH degree from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and an MBA degree from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He finished two specialty trainings (one in clinical microbiology and another one in sexual medicine), as well as an additional 1-year training in clinical trials at Harvard Medical School. His clinical work resulted in three patients’ choice Best Doctor awards (2019-2021), which strengthened his role in various advocacy endeavors (especially in the role of a vice-president of the NGO for sexual and reproductive health). From an academic vantage point, Tomislav is an Associate Professor at University North in Croatia, and a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Since 2017 Tomislav is a Croatian collaborator for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) enterprise, and in the academic year 2021/2022 he became a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the IHME and the Department of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, working in the team that tackled a global burden of antimicrobial resistance. This resulted in an affiliate position at the same Department and University. He is a Secretary-General of the Croatian Society for Clinical Microbiology and an acting Chair of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) CHOMA Committee, as well as the member of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) External Affairs Committee. He is a Global Coordinator for Country Representatives of the Health Information for All (HIFA) Network. Tomislav holds several fellowships: College of American Pathologists – IFCAP (United States), Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health – FRSPH (United Kingdom) and Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine – FECSM (European Union). Tomislav is also a Chief Operating Partner in Croatia for the International HPV Awareness Day Alliance, International Ambassador of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), Education Officer of the ESCMID’s Study Group for Mycoplasma and Chlamydia Infections, Communication Committee Lead for IUSTI Europe Society and a WHO-certified Infodemic Manager. He was a part of the Interstellar Initiative by the New York Academy of Sciences and AMED (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development) between 2021 and 2022. Important global health issues are pervasive in his quotidian research work; some research papers that he has authored/co-authored thus far include appraising geographical inequalities in drinking water access and oral rehydration therapy (Lancet Global Health), evaluating education disparities (Nature), and addressing the issue of equitable and ethical access to scientific conferences (Nature Human Behaviour). Furthermore, he is also involved in evidence-informed policy making, as he is a part of the WHO Global Learning Laboratory for Quality Universal Health Coverage (WHO/HIFA Working Group on Learning for Quality Health Services). Finally, as a science journalist and communicator, he tackles science misinformation and ethical issues in science on a daily basis, as he wants to bring voice to many topics relevant for global health. Since 2014, Tomislav has written more than 800 news pieces/articles to date for News Medical – one of the world’s leading open-access medical and life science hubs. Between 2014 and 2015, he was a freelance science journalist for the Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net), where he worked on the Ebola story (among other contributions) during the disease outbreak in 2014. As a former Chair of the Young Leaders Circle, he was an Editor-In-Chief of the ASM’s “Your Leadership Communication” Newsletter; currently, he acts as an Editor-In-Chief of the ESGMAC’s Quarterly Newsletter, and Co-Editor-In-Chief of the IUSTI EUROPE Newsletter within IUSTI Communication Committee.

Awards