On October 28, 2024, Roman Jaeschke, professor in McMaster University’s Department of Medicine, was officially awarded an honorary doctorate at a ceremony held in the Jagiellonian University’s Aula of Collegium Maius (Kraków, Poland).

This prestigious recognition by the oldest university in Poland honors his exceptional contributions in several areas:

• Unique contributions to research methodology: Dr Jaeschke has significantly advanced research methodologies in clinical medicine and applied his findings in practice.
• Research in the field of intensive care: His work, particularly on sepsis, has led to the development of widely used clinical practice guidelines.
• Support for the Jagiellonian University: Through his collaborative research projects and committed support for young scientists, Dr Jaeschke has greatly contributed to the University.
• International collaboration: Dr Jaeschke has fostered and developed scientific and educational cooperation between the Jagiellonian University and McMaster University in Canada.

Roman Jaeschke, MD, MSc, DPharm, was born on November 3, 1956, in Kraków, Poland. He earned his medical degree (MD) in 1981 from the Medical Academy in Kraków, Poland (now known as the Jagiellonian University Medical College), followed by a doctoral degree in pharmacology (DPharm) in 1982 from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and a master of science degree (MSc) in 1989 from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Since 1989, Dr Jaeschke has been with the Department of Medicine at McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, becoming a professor in 2002; in 2009, he was also appointed professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (now the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact). He served as the Head of Service, Intensive Care, and Chief of the Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and co-developed the Critical Care Response Team initiative in Ontario hospitals. From 2017 to 2020, he played an instrumental role in establishing similar rapid response teams in Poland.

Dr Jaeschke is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and an honorary member of the Polish Society of Internal Medicine. He has served on international committees developing clinical practice guidelines on various topics, including shock and hemodynamic monitoring (ESICM); sepsis (SSC); colloid use (ESCCM); analgesia, sedation, and delirium (SCCM); hypothermia (ATS/ACCP/SCCM/ESCCM); intra-abdominal hypertension (WSACS); anticoagulation (ACCP); and pulmonary embolism in pregnant patients (ATS/ERS).

He serves on the editorial board of the American College of Physicians Journal Club and chairs the International Editorial Board of the Polish Archives of Internal Medicine as well as the International Scientific Council of Medycyna Praktyczna, a Polish medical journal. He is also an editor in chief of the McMaster Textbook of Internal Medicine and Interna Szczeklika (the Polish source text adapted by McMaster faculty).

Dr Jaeschke has authored or co-authored numerous widely cited articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals (Google Scholar H-index of 107 with 143,907 citations; Web of Science Core H-index of 77 with 47,365 citations). He has been instrumental in developing the concept of evidence-based medicine (EBM). His most cited publication is “Measurement of health status. Ascertaining the minimal clinically important difference” (Control Clin Trials. 1989 Dec;10(4):407-15). From 2014 to 2022, he was listed among the world’s most cited researchers by Clarivate (Thomson Reuters).

Thanks to his contributions, a landmark series of articles discussing EBM methodology was published in Polish between 1998 and 2003, and later formed the basis of the first Polish EBM textbook. Dr Jaeschke is a co-founder of the Polish Institute for Evidence Based Medicine (piebm.org), a nonprofit foundation focused on medical education.