Department of Psychiatry FMCU & UHB

Psychiatry as a discipline of medicine has been present at the Faculty of Medicine of the Comenius University in Bratislava since its foundation in 1919. The tradition of psychiatric care at the place of the current Department of Psychiatry is even older. The internal department of the Hungarian Regional Hospital in Bratislava, founded in 1864, already had a Department of Psychiatry, which became independent in 1891 headed by Dr. Jakub Fischer. The Elizabethan University, which began its activities in 1914, took over this Department as one of its clinics.

The newly established Czechoslovak State University and its medical faculty took over the clinical units of the regional hospital and Elizabeth University, but built up its professional staff almost exclusively with the help of Czech professors and other experts. The Department of Psychiatry became part of the Department of Neuropsychiatry, which was located in the building of the former regional hospital on today's Mickiewiczova Street. The Department was headed by Czech psychiatrists throughout the interwar period: prof. MUDr. Zdeněk Mysliveček; prof. MUDr. Miroslav Křivý and prof. MUDr. Stanislav Krákora. In cooperation with other experts, they gradually built a modern Department with a capacity of almost 120 beds, of which 40 beds were allocated for the nervous and 80 beds for the psychiatric department. By establishing a neurohistological, serological and cerebrospinal fluid laboratories, and building a library, the conditions for research and scientific work were created. The Department provided educational activities within the undergraduate education of future physicians and lawyers in the subjects of Psychiatry, Pathological Psychology, Nervous and Mental Diseases. The team of the Department trained the first Slovak specialists in psychiatry at that time.

After the forced departure of the Czech professors from the University, doc. MUDr. Karol Matulay was appointed as the head of the Department in 1939. By 1942, he became the first Slovak professor in the field of psychiatry. The capacity of the Department of Psychiatry was 130 beds in 1945. In the first post-war years, neurological and psychiatric patients were hospitalized together at the Department. In addition to inpatient care, outpatient care began to be provided to patients to a greater extent. During the work of prof. Matulay, radical changes were made at the Department, cells were abolished and passive care was replaced by active mental therapy. Cardiazole and insulin “shocks” were included in the treatment of mental disorders, and an X-ray laboratory was established. As part of the undergraduate education of medical and law students, the Department continued to teach the subjects of Psychiatry, Neurology and also Psychiatry for lawyers.

In 1950, the neuropsychiatric department was divided into the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, respectively. The further direction of the Department of Psychiatry was primarily lead by the level of general development of psychiatry as a field of medicine and by the professional orientation of the heads who led the Department in the following period. The first head of the already separate Department of Psychiatry was prof. MUDr. Ernest Guensberger, PhD. Under his leadership, the clinical and research activities were focused to psychopathology, clinical description of patients and the use of psychotherapy. In the treatment of mental disorders, the possibilities of psychopharmacotherapy gradually expanded, and by the end of the 1970s, insulin coma treatment was abandoned. Among other methods hypnosis and psychotherapy under the hypnotic drugs were used more frequent in comparison with current status. Psychiatry classes for doctors and lawyers continued to take place at the Department. From 1957, the teaching of the subject Medical Psychology began, first as elective subject, with regular lectures from 1974. This subject was also included in the specialization training program in the field of Psychiatry throughout Czechoslovakia.

Prof. MUDr. Ján Molčan took over the leading of the Department in 1977. He is considered the founder of Slovak clinical psychopharmacology and, in cooperation with other Department staff, participated in clinical studies of psychopharmacological drugs and in the creation of systematic out-patient treatment at the Department. Lithium salts, modified electroconvulsive therapy and social rehabilitation were used more in the treatment of mental disorders. A day-care psychiatric unit for patients with psychoses was established at the Department, it was the first of its type in Slovakia. Prof. Molčan was also a promoter of telephone helplines and the founder of psychiatric sexology in Slovakia.

During the heading of doc. MUDr. Eduard Kolibáš, PhD. (since 1990), an intensive psychiatric care unit was established and the child psychiatric department was transformed into a department specialized for eating disorders. Gradually working groups with a more specific professional and research focus began to form. These were teams in the field of psychiatric research methodology, electrophysiological methods in psychiatry, clinical psychopathology, psychoreactive disorders, dementia, addictions, forensic and social psychiatry, and psychotherapy. The Department continued to provide teaching in the subjects of Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry and Medical Psychology. In 1993, in the undergraduate education in the study programs of general medicine and dentistry, teaching in the English language began, and the Department included the mandatory optional subject Drugs and drug addictions in the study program. Doc. Kolibáš worked in the academic years 2004 - 2005 and 2006 - 2007 as vice-dean of the FMCU for curative and preventive care.

The Department of Psychiatry continued its direction in the following period, when it was headed by prof. MUDr. Ivan Žucha, PhD. (since 1997). The personality of prof. Žucha, a neurologist, psychiatrist, forensic psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer, enriched not only the Department, but the whole of Slovak psychiatry with relating the clinical discipline with philosophy. In the post-revolutionary period (1990 – 1991) he was the vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine, in the years 1990-1994 he served as the president of the Psychiatric Association of Slovak Psychiatric Association. During his tenure as the head, he was involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching of doctors, lawyers, psychologists and police officers.

Prof. MUDr. Vladimír Novotný, PhD. (since 2001) further developed the clinical, educational and research directions of the Department. He deepened cooperation with Czech and Moravian psychiatric institutions. During his leadership, new scientific projects were added to the previous research topics: the first epidemiological studies of depression, anxiety disorders and addictions in Slovakia, studies of addictive substances in university students, the safety of psychopharmacotherapy and the analysis of perpetrators of violent crimes. In 2008, the department of forensic psychiatry was established at the Department. The undergraduate teaching provided by the Department was expanded to include the tutorial for diploma theses.

After the tragic and untimely death of prof. Novotný and a short period in which doc. MUDr. Viera Kořínková, PhD. was assigned as the head, the Department was heading by prof. MUDr. Ján Pečeňák, PhD. (2012 – 2022). During this period, in cooperation with all the teaching staff of the Department, undergraduate education was restructured, doctoral studies were re-accredited and postgraduate study of specialization in psychiatry was expanded. In cooperation with the Faculty of Arts, the Center for the Research of Mental Disorders was established in the Science Park of the Comenius University. He participated in important international studies in the field of psychopharmacology and developed scientific cooperation with other parts of the Faculty of Medicine and the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

In September 2022, doc. MUDr. Ľubomíra Izáková, PhD. was established as the head of the Department. In addition to continuous pedagogical, clinical and research activities, she is an important representative of the field as the chief expert of the Slovak Ministry of Health for the field of psychiatry, the previous president of the Slovak Psychiatric Society and a current member of the board of the Slovak Medical Association. She is responsible for the specialization study in the field of sexology and a leading expert and organizer of education in forensic psychiatry. She established important contacts with representatives of European and world professional psychiatric societies and is further developing traditional cooperation with professional societies of the Czech Republic and with the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Currently, as part of undergraduate education, the Department provides teaching for students in general medicine and dentistry in the compulsory subjects Medical Psychology and Basics of Communication and in Psychiatry (in Slovak and English). Of the mandatory optional subjects for students of the 4^th and 5^th year of general medicine, the Department provides the following subjects: Basics of communication in medicine, Drugs and drug addiction, Psychotherapy and Narrative medicine. The Department is also providing education in selected subjects for the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Law of the Comenius University. In postgraduate education, it provides the PhD. study in the field of Psychiatry and Neurosciences and also specialized studies in the field of Psychiatry.

During its existence, the Department adapted to the changing situation in the healthcare. Mainly due to the lack of nurses, the number of beds was gradually reduced from 71 in 2012 to the current 40 beds. The department for eating disorders and also the intensive psychiatric care unit were closed. Nevertheless, the Department provides comprehensive psychiatric care, from acute treatment to the post-hospitalization treatment like psychosocial intervention and rehabilitation of mental disorders. Its 15-places day-care center has a long tradition and celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2023.

The modernization of the clinic has also been reflected in the complete reconstruction of the original department for eating disorders. In 2023, it was transformed into a psychosomatic department, offering patients a high standard of care and a wide range of psychotherapeutic treatment methods. That same year, all internship rooms were also renovated. In 2024, the day care center underwent a complete reconstruction as well.

In September 2025, the clinic officially opened a simulation center, which serves not only for the training of medical students but is also part of a study program project focused on continuous education in the field of "Management of Aggression and Behavioral Disorders." This program was developed by the clinic to provide education for doctors, nurses, medical assistants, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals. Additionally, in 2025, the clinic is preparing to establish a community center with the vision of improving the quality and accessibility of healthcare, as well as gaining valuable experience for building similar centers in other cities.

PROFESSOR:
prof. MUDr. Ján Pečeňák, CSc. pecenak1uniba.sk +421 2 57290 737 publications: LINK
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS:
doc. MUDr. Ľubomíra Izáková, PhD. lubomira.izakovagmail.com +421 2 57290 385 +421 2 57290 339 publications: LINK
doc. MUDr. Mária Králová, CSc. kralova3uniba.sk +421 2 57290 164 publications: LINK
doc. PhDr. Eva Morovicsová, PhD., MPH eva.morovicsovafmed.uniba.sk +421 2 57290 138 publications: LINK
doc. PhDr. Michal Hajdúk, PhD. michal.hajdukuniba.sk +421 2 57290 108 publications: LINK
PROFESSOR ASSISTANTS:
MUDr. Viktor Segeda, PhD. 177341mail.muni.cz +421 2 57290 649 publications: LINK
ASSISTANTS:
MUDr. Gabriela Bezáková gabriela.bezakovafmed.uniba.sk publications: LINK
MUDr. Patrik Gálik galik23uniba.sk publications: LINK
MUDr. Vanda Valkučáková, MPH vanda.valkucakovagmail.com publications: LINK
Mgr. Patrícia Bartková hricakova4uniba.sk publications: LINK
MUDr. Nina Halajová  halajova15@uniba.sk publikácie: LINK
INTERNAL PHD STUDENTS:
Mgr. Natália Čavojská cavojska16uniba.sk publications: LINK
MUDr. Dominik Patúš patus2uniba.sk publications:

Soňa Weber Krajčovičová

sona.krajcovicovafmed.uniba.sk

+421 2 57290 385

Undergraduate education

The Department provides education in both medical study courses at Comenius University in Bratislava (general medicine, dentistry) – covering the subjects Medical Psychology and Communication; Psychiatry. Teaching is provided in Slovak and English language (for foreign students). Teaching of optional courses (Drugs and Drug Addiction; Psychotherapy; Basics of Communication in Medicine and Narrative medicine – for students of 4^th and 5^th year) is provided in Slovak language. Furthermore we teach selected subjects for the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Law and for the Police Academy.

Postgraduate education: PhD study

The Department is accredited for doctoral study for the subject Psychiatry.

Postgraduate education: specialization study

The Department is accredited to provide education in specific training courses in Psychiatry since 2007/2008. The Department also annually organizes the course of Forensic Psychiatry for board-certified psychiatrists.

List of diploma thesis students in English language after 2010:

Year of planned defense: 2025

Student: Alan Mada

Diploma Thesis: Unconventional Approaches to Treatment of Mental Disorders

Supervisor (Consultant): doc. Izáková (dr. Bezáková)

Year of planned defense: 2025

Student: Areesha Malik

Diploma Thesis: Mental Disorders in Patients with Covid-19

Supervisor (Consultant): dr. Segeda (dr. Bezáková)

Year of planned defense: 2025

Student: Johannes Valentin Wasmeier

Diploma Thesis: Psychedelics in the Treatment of Mental Disorders

Supervisor (Consultant): dr. Turček (dr. Bezáková)

Year of planned defense: 2025

Student: Laura Franziska Huchzermeier

Diploma Thesis: Gender Identity and Mental Disorders

Supervisor: prof. Pečeňák

Year of defense: 2023

Student: Isabella Schebesta

Diploma Thesis: Circadian Rhythms and Mental Disorders

Supervisor: dr. Segeda

Year of defense: 2022

Student: Marie Karoline Lorenz

Diploma Thesis: Psychoneuroimmunology in Development of Mental Disorders

Supervisor (Consultant): prof. Pečeňák (dr. Valkučáková)

Year of defense: 2021

Student: Cecília Marčišová

Diploma Thesis: Psychosocial Functioning in Patients with Depression

Supervisor: doc. Hajdúk

Year of defense: 2019

Student: Joanna Żyszkowska

Diploma Thesis: Co-Occurance of Bipolar Affective Disorder and Substance Use Disorders

Supervisor: dr. Segeda

Year of defense: 2017

Student: Konstantinos Georgiadis

Diploma Thesis: Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects of Biological Drugs

Supervisor: prof. Pečeňák

Year of defense: 2017

Student: Zafeiriou Zafeiroula

Diploma Thesis: Extrapyramidal Symptoms in Patients on Psychopharmacological Treatmet

Supervisor: prof. Pečeňák

Year of defense: 2013

Student: Andreas Makrantonakis

Diploma Thesis: Depression: an overview

Supervisor: doc. Pečeňák

Year of defense: 2013

Student: Emmanoil Deres

Diploma Thesis: Depression and pain

Supervisor: dr. Izáková

Grant projects after 2000:

Period: 2023 – 2026

Identifier: VEGA 1/0644/23

Title: Coping with psychosocial stress situations in patients with depressive disorder in relation to age and unravelling the mechanisms involved

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. MUDr. Ľubomíra Izáková, PhD. (dr. Valkučáková, dr. Sasváry, dr. Bezáková)

Period: 2023 – 2026

Identifier: VEGA 1/0493/23

Title: Social withdrawal and psychosis phenotype - psychological mechanisms and their neurobiological correlates across continuum from healthy to pathological

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. PhDr. Michal Hajdúk, PhD. (dr. Krajčovičová, Mgr. Čavojská)

Period: 2021 – 2025

Identifier: APVV 20/0185

Title: Social Processes in Autism and Schizophrenia

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. PhDr. Michal Hajdúk, PhD. (prof. Pečeňák, dr.Valkučáková, Mgr. Čavojská)

Period: 2021 – 2025

Identifier: H2020-945263

Title: Implementing Mobile MEntal health Recording Strategy for Europe – IMMERSE

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): prof. Mgr. Anton Heretik, PhD. (prof. Pečeňák, doc. Izáková, doc. Hajdúk, Mgr. Čavojská)

Period: 2021 – 2024

Identifier: VEGA 2/0122/21 

Title: The main development trends of healthcare in Slovakia from the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic to 1968

Principal investigator: doc. PhDr. Eva Morovicsová, PhD., MPH

Period: 2020 – 2023

Identifier: VEGA 1/0738/20

Title: Biomarkers of neuroinflammation in patients with Alzheimer disease

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. Mgr. Ivana Shawkatová, PhD. (M. Králová, J. Pečeňák, B. Mészáros-Hideghéty)

Period: 2019 – 2023

Identifier: APVV 18/0283

Title: Bridge between the mental state and neuroendocrine function of mother and her child: the mechanisms involved

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): prof. PharmDr. Daniela Ježová, DrSc.; doc. MUDr. Ľubomíra Izáková, PhD. (dr. Králová, dr. Segeda)

Period: 2016 – 2019

Identifier: APVV 15/0155

Title: Impaired communication skills in patients with Parkinson disease

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. PaedDr. Zsolt Cséfalvay, PhD.; prof. MUDr. Peter Valkovič, PhD. (M. Králová, M. Hajdúk)

Period: 2016 – 2019

Identifier: VEGA 1/0240/16

Title: Immunogenetic markers in Slovak patients with Alzheimer’s disease

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. Mgr. Ivana Shawkatová, PhD. (M. Králová, J. Pečeňák)

Period: 2016 – 2020

Identifier: APVV 15/0037

Title: Investigation of anatomical-functional differences between the effects of aripiprazole and quetiapine, atypical antipsychotics with similar therapeutic indications, but different impact on brain dopaminergic receptors, in experimental animals

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): RNDr. Alexander Kiss, DrSc. (J. Pečeňák, V. Kořínková, M. Matisová)

Period: 2016 – 2017

Identifier: VEGA 2/100/16

Title: Health care in Slovakia in 1948 – 1966

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): PhDr. Anna Falisová, CSc. (E. Morovicsová)

Period: 2017 – 2018

Identifier: KEGA 037UK-4/2017

Title: Database of multimedia model cases for interactive teaching of Psychiatry for medical students

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): MUDr. Michal Turček, PhD. (J. Pečeňák, V. Kořínková, Ľ. Izáková, P. Janík, D. Krajčovičová, M. Králová, V. Segeda, M. Zimányiová)

Period: 2015 – 2018

Identifier: VEGA 2/0057/15

Title: The clinical significance of the relationship between aldosterone and depression and the regulatory mechanisms involved

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): prof. PharmDr. Daniela Ježová, DrSc. (Ľ. Izáková, E. Morovicsová, V. Segeda, M. Borovská, M. Matisová, D. Krajčovičová, B. Mészáros Hideghéty)

Period: 2015 – 2018

Identifier: VEGA 1/0300/15

Title: The role of modulation activity of vagus nerve in peripheral a central anti-inflammatory effect of antidepressants and antipsychotics

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): MVDr. Katarína Ondičová, PhD. (J. Pečeňák, V. Kořínková, M. Králová)

Period: 2015 – 2018

Identifier: SPS 01/2015

Title: Perception and recognition of facial expressions as they relate to the functioning of patients with schizophrenia

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): MUDr. Dana Krajčovičová, PhD. (M. Hajdúk, V. Kořínková, J. Pečeňák, M. Zimányiová)

Period: 2012 – 2015

Identifier: APVV 0048/11

Title: Cognitive-communication disorders in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. PaedDr. Zsolt Cséfalvay, PhD. (M. Králová, K. Vajdičková, B. Mészáros-Hideghéty)

Period: 2012 – 2014

Identifier: VEGA 2/0110/12

Title: Role of medical personnel in the development of health care in Slovakia since the constitution of Czechoslovak Republic until the beginning of 1950th

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): PhDr. Anna Falisová, CSc. (E. Morovicsová)

Period: 2012 – 2013

Identifier: KEGA 099UK-4/212

Title: Multimedia technologies in innovation and standardization of teaching the Psychiatry in English language in foreign medical students

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): MUDr. Michal Turček, PhD. (Ľ. Izáková, P. Janík, E. Kolibáš, V. Kořínková, M. Králová, J. Pečeňák, V. Segeda, K. Vajdičková, B. Vašečková)

Period: 2010 – 2012

Identifier: VEGA 2/0097/10

Title: Social Conditions and Consequences of the Development of Science and Technology in Slovakia in the years 1918-1938

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): PhDr. Ľudovít Hallon, CSc. (E. Morovicsová)

Period: 2010 – 2011

Identifier: VEGA 1/0258/10

Title: Study of the mechanisms of peripheral anti-inflammatory action of antidepressants

Principal investigator: doc. MUDr. Ján Pečeňák, CSc.

Period: 2007 – 2008

Identifier: VEGA 1/4272/07

Title: University students and psychoactive substances

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): prof. MUDr. Vladimír Novotný, CSc. (E. Kolibáš, M. Turček)

Period: 2007

Identifier: SPS 01/07

Title: Epidemiology of alcoholism and smoking in Slovakia

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. MUDr. Ján Pečeňák, CSc. (V. Novotný, J. Pečeňák)

Period: 2007

Identifier: UK 106/2007

Title: The usage of drawings in the diagnostic and therapeutic process of psychosis

Principal investigator: MUDr. Zuzana Hapalová

Period: 2005 – 2007

Identifier: VEGA 1/2296/05

Title: Safety parameters of treatment of mental disorders in inpatients

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): doc. MUDr. Viera Kořínková, CSc. (D. Krajčovičová)

Period: 2006

Identifier: UK 49/2006

Title: Affective disorders and substance use

Principal investigator: MUDr. Michal Turček

Period: 2005 – 2006

Identifier: SPS 01/05

Title: Epidemiology of anxiety

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): prof. MUDr. Vladimír Novotný, CSc. (J. Pečeňák)

Period: 2002 – 2003

Identifier: SPS 01/02

Title: Epidemiology of depression in Slovakia

Principal investigator (co-investigators from Dpt.): prof. MUDr. Vladimír Novotný, CSc. (J. Pečeňák)

All publications of the employees can be accessed for view via this LINK.