Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, joins the group of shareholders of Wisła Kraków

Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, joins the Club's shareholders – an outstanding cardiac surgeon and transplantologist and an experienced organizational leader who has been associated with one of the key medical centers in Małopolska for over two decades.

Dr Jacek Piątek will acquire 19,000 shares of Wisła Kraków SA , and the funds obtained from this investment will support the club's current activities and the implementation of strategic development initiatives , strengthening its stability and long-term potential.

Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, has been involved in sports, particularly football, from a young age. He began his career at the Halniak Maków Podhalański Club, and during his studies, he represented the Jagiellonian University Medical College football team, serving as captain and twice winning a bronze medal at the Polish Medical Academies Championships. His return to the football community as a shareholder of Wisła Kraków is a natural extension of his long-standing passion and consistent commitment to the development of the sport.

In parallel, Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, has built an impressive professional career. Since 2002, he has been associated with the St. John Paul II Krakow Specialist Hospital, where he served successively as an assistant, senior assistant, deputy head of the ward, and head of the Lung Transplant Team. In 2023, he led the first lung transplant in Małopolska, completing a project the region had been waiting for for over 30 years. He was responsible for both the substantive and organizational preparation of the project, proving his expertise in managing complex clinical and logistical processes.

As a cardiac surgeon, Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, has performed over 3,000 open-heart surgeries , and since 2014 he has been co-creating one of the leading  In Poland, he leads the MIDCAB minimally invasive coronary surgery program, encompassing approximately 700 procedures. He is also a co-founder of the HCR hybrid coronary revascularization program, implemented in collaboration with the interventional cardiology team. His scientific achievements include over 100 original papers, numerous presentations at international conferences, and awards, including the Honoris Gratia badge from the Mayor of Krakow.

The addition of Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, to the Wisła Kraków SA shareholder structure is a testament to his confidence in the Club's development direction and confirms the growing attractiveness of the ownership project. His experience in managing highly specialized teams, leading strategic projects, and his long-standing passion for sports will be valuable support in further strengthening Wisła Kraków's position.

I'm delighted that Wisła Kraków is once again strengthening its structures with an outstanding personality and consistently building the identity of a Club in which knowledge, science, and competence play an equally important role as sport. Jacek's addition is not only an important personal step for me, but above all, a strategic reinforcement of our ambitions in the research and development center and projects that combine sport with modern, proprietary technological solutions in the cardio segment. Jarosław Królewski – President and main shareholder of Wisła Kraków.

I've been a Wisła Kraków fan for over 30 years. Joining the shareholder structure means more than just cheering from the stands—it sends a clear message: this is my club, too. Wisła Kraków is a brand and a legend of Polish football, and the opportunity to participate, even in a small way, in its history has been a personal dream of mine. I believe in the club's continued development—both athletically and organizationally: Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD

Full biography:

EDUCATION

Jagiellonian University – Medical College

• Faculty of Medicine, medical specialization – 2000
• Academic title: Doctor of Medical Sciences – 2014
• Academic title: habilitated doctor of medical sciences
• Positive opinion of the Presidium of the Council for Scientific Excellence in the procedure for awarding the title of professor – 2019
• Professorial Proceedings – 2025

MEDICAL SPECIALIZATIONS

• Specialization in cardiac surgery – 2009
• Specialization in clinical transplantology – 2013

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Krakow Specialist Hospital named after St. John Paul II

Clinical Department of Cardiac, Vascular and Transplant Surgery

• Assistant (2002–2009)
• Senior Assistant (2009–2021)
• Deputy Head of Department (from 2021)
• Head of the Lung Transplant Team (from 2022)

Jagiellonian University – Medical College

Clinic of Cardiac, Vascular and Transplant Surgery, Institute of Cardiology

• Assistant Professor (from 2023)

I. General data

Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, was born on June 18, 1974, in Maków Podhalański. He was interested in sports from an early age. During his school years, he played for the Halnik football club in his hometown of Maków Podhalański, and then, during his studies, represented the Jagiellonian University Medical College academic team, serving as its captain. During his tenure, the team twice won bronze medals at the Polish Medical Academies Championships.

He began his medical studies at the Medical University of Krakow in 1993. Interested in clinical and research work, in his fourth year of studies he became an active member of the Cardiac Surgery Student Research Group at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantology of the Institute of Cardiology at the John Paul II Krakow Specialist Hospital. During this period, he participated in the preparation of numerous scientific papers that received awards, including a distinction at the 36th National Medical Students' Scientific Conference in Krakow (1998) and the 14th National Student Cardiology Conference in Gdansk (2000). During his final years of studies, he received a full-time student position as a reward for his research activity at the Cardiac Surgery Clinic.

After graduating in 2000, followed by a postgraduate internship in 2002, he began working at the Clinical Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantology, where he has served as Deputy Head of the Department since 2021. After beginning his professional career, he began specializing in cardiac surgery, graduating with distinction in 2009. In 2013, in line with his interests, he became a specialist in clinical transplantology. Since completing his specialization, Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, has been an independent, active cardiac surgeon and transplantologist. He performs approximately 180 procedures per year across the full range of cardiac surgeries (coronary artery surgery, valvular surgery, aortic aneurysms), both elective and emergency. In total, he has performed over 3,000 open-heart surgeries.

His professional passion is coronary surgery and transplantology. Since 2014, he has led a minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MIDCAB) program at the St. John Paul II Specialist Hospital in Krakow. To date, he has performed approximately 700 such procedures, placing the center among the leaders in these procedures in Poland. This experience has been presented in scientific publications, during presentations at the International Coronary Congress, and as a lecture at the International Congress of the Polish Cardiac Society.

Since beginning his employment at the St. John Paul II Krakow Specialist Hospital, he has been a member of the transplant team, representing one of seven heart transplant centers in Poland. As part of the cardiac surgery program for heart failure patients, in 2025 he performed the first implantation of an Impella 5.5 pump in the Małopolska region for short-term mechanical circulatory support in a patient awaiting a heart transplant. Furthermore, in 2022, after completing a training internship at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, he assumed the role of Head of the Lung Transplant Team, responsible for the substantive and logistical preparations for the first lung transplant at the center—an undertaking planned in Małopolska for over 30 years.

II. Scientific achievements

• Completion of a doctoral dissertation in 2013 entitled "Comparison of arterial and arteriovenous revascularization of the myocardium in patients over 70 years of age", which was the result of research on a group of patients undergoing modern, complete arterial revascularization.
• Obtaining a postdoctoral degree in 2019 based on a monothematic series of publications entitled "Evaluation of the results of surgical heart revascularization among patients in atypical age groups, taking into account the risk factors for postoperative complications."
• In 2025, the procedure for awarding the title of professor of medical sciences received a positive opinion from the Presidium of the Council for Scientific Excellence in Warsaw.

III. Scientific training

• In 2003–2004, he completed two research and training internships at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo (June 16–21, 2003, and June 14–19, 2004), sponsored by EACTS. The program included training in cardiology and cardiac surgery, as well as methodological preparation for research planning, data analysis methods, and statistical interpretation of results.
• From July 28 to August 29, 2003, he completed a research and training internship at the Deutsches Herzzentrum in Berlin under the supervision of Prof. Roland Hetzer, one of Europe's most experienced transplant centers. The aim of the training was to learn modern diagnostic, therapeutic, and organizational methods in heart and lung transplantation, as well as alternative treatment strategies for severe heart failure. The internship resulted in the development of a treatment program for patients with heart failure caused by severe mitral regurgitation.
• From September 15th to September 29th, 2018, he completed a research and training internship at the Leipzig Heart Center with Dr. Piroze Diaverwala, head of the minimally invasive coronary surgery program. The training covered minimally invasive coronary artery surgery techniques for multivessel disease and hybrid procedures. His collaboration with the center resulted in scientific publications.
• From January 2nd to December 29th, 2023, he completed a research and training internship at the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, in the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Transplantology, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, and in the Lung Transplant Department. The aim of the training was to gain experience in modern diagnostic, therapeutic, and organizational methods for lung transplantation. The collaboration resulted in the first lung transplant in the Małopolska region in June 2023.
• In 2014, he completed an elite course for coronary heart surgeons – European Masterclass Arterial Revascularisation for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Oxford (England), devoted to advanced techniques of coronary arterial revascularisation.

IV. Participation in clinical trials

• Participation in a study on secondary mitral valve regurgitation repair as an alternative surgical treatment for heart transplant candidates with dilated cardiomyopathy (2007) – Role: Investigator .
• Participation in the project “Use of medical laser and stem cells in the extreme form of ischemic heart disease – FAT-TMLR” (2018) – role: Researcher .
• Coordination of the multicenter, randomized LAAOS III (Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Study III) , currently underway – role: Study Coordinator .

V. Awards

• On December 7, 2023, Dr. Jacek Piątek, MD, PhD, was honored with the Honoris Gratia badge awarded by order of the Mayor of Krakow for performing the first lung transplant in Krakow.
• Third prize for the scientific paper presented during the 4th Congress of the Polish Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons in Warsaw (2008), entitled "Application of pharmacological methods (in vitro) for assessing the sensitivity of the radial artery used in coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries" (co-author).
• Second award of the Prime Minister for scientific and technical achievements.
• Honorable Mention in the cardiology and cardiac surgery session during the 36th National Scientific Conference of Medical Students in Kraków (1998) for a series of papers on percutaneous angioplasty of coronary arteries (co-author).
• Honorable Mention in the cardiology and cardiac surgery session during the 37th National Scientific Conference of Medical Students in Kraków (1999) for the paper "Quality of life of patients with diabetes and ischemic heart disease after percutaneous coronary angioplasty" (co-author).
• Honorable Mention in the cardiology and cardiac surgery session during the 37th National Scientific Conference of Medical Students in Kraków (1999) for the paper "Quality of life in patients after implantation of a DDD pacemaker" (co-author).
• Honorable Mention in the cardiology session during the 14th National Student Cardiology Conference in Gdańsk (2000) for the paper "Quality of life of patients treated with percutaneous coronary angioplasty in long-term follow-up" (co-author).

VI. Invited conference lectures

• 2nd Polish Conference of the PTK Association of Valve Diseases – Session: Infective endocarditis – new ESC 2024 guidelines; Lecture: “Who qualifies for cardiac surgery?”; March 2, 2024
• XXVII International Congress of the Polish Cardiac Society – Session: Valvular aortic stenosis – a seemingly simple heart defect; Lecture: "New possibilities of surgical treatment of aortic stenosis"; September 29, 2023
• XXVII International Congress of the Polish Cardiac Society – Session: Advanced heart failure – optimal cooperation of the entire team; Lecture: “Donor and donor care – a key element in heart transplantation”; September 29, 2023
• XVIII International Congress of the Polish Cardiac Society – Session: Minimally invasive surgery – what a cardiologist should know; Lecture: “MIDCAB – facts and myths”; September 19, 2014

VII. Scientific achievements

• 103 original works
• 2 letters to the editor
• 5 review papers
• 5 case reports
• 7 chapters in monographs
• 4 popular science works
• 29 national conference abstracts