Laudatio of the Rehbein Award

According to Article 16 of the EUPSA Bye-Laws the Nomination Committee, consisting of the EUPSA President, the Past President,
the President Elect and all Former Presidents decided to award the 2024 Rehbein Medal to Prof. Zacharia Zachariou.

The Rehbein Medal is awarded to distinguished scientists who, with their outstanding contributions, have significantly promoted
the development of Pediatric Surgery in Europe and in the World on the occasion of the Annual European Congress.

Prof. Zacharias Zachariou was a founding member of EUPSA in 2002 and served as Treasurer of the Association for 2 terms.
He was elected as President elect of the Association in 2013 and served as EUPSA President between 2015-2016.

He studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg Medical School and was trained in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery
at the University Hospital of the same University. In 2003 he was appointed as Chairman and Director of the Department of
Pediatric Surgery at the University of Bern, Switzerland. In 2013 he returned to his home country to establish the Medical School
of the University of Cyprus and served as Dean of the Medical School.

Throughout his career he promoted Pediatric Surgery especially in the Eastern European countries, helping for the establishment
of Pediatric Surgical Departments after the reforms in eastern Europe. For these contributions he has been granted several honours
and awards, including the Doctor honoris causa of the Iuliu Hatieganu University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the Imre Pilaszanovitch
Visiting Professor, Medical Faculty, University of Pecs, Hungary as well as Visiting Professorship at the University of Nis in Serbia.

He published a significant number of original contributions to the medical literature, has published books, some of them being
translated in Chinese, Russian and Greek, and 4 CDs /DVDs applying new technologies in medical education. He serves as
Editor-in-Chief in the major international Journals of Pediatric Surgery. His leadership skills have been manifolding both in the
development of medical health services as well as the professional policy.

The European Pediatric Surgeons’ Association together with the European Pediatric Surgeons community express their gratitude to
Prof. Zachariou and hope for the continuation of his efforts to promote health services to the children that are entrusted to us.

Bologna 15^th June 2024
Prof. Paolo De Coppi
EUPSA President