Activity profile: MEDICAL TOURISM

Elements of strategy for the medical tourism development

OIKON – Ltd. Institute for Applied Ecology, Croatia

Zdravko Špirić received his Ph.D in Technical Sciences, scientific field Chemical Engineering from University of Zagreb, Croatia in 1998. He is currently the scientific director of OIKON - Ltd. Institute for Applied Ecology, Zagreb, Croatia. Beginning in 1980, he served with the Croatian oil company INA at the R&D on the research of chemical processes in the oil and gas industry. From 1995 until joining Oikon in 2004, he was Environmental Protection Manager for the INA-Naftaplin (Exploration and Production Division). He has more than 20 years of experience in the energy sector (production, policy, strategy); petroleum industry; oil & natural gas exploration & production, research and process development, specializing in environmental technology (laboratory and field extensive industrial consulting practice), education and scientific research in nature, health & environment protection: human & eco biomonitoring, risk-assessment, management, communication; as well as sustainable development. Currently, he is involved in several international and domestic scientific projects: Bioindication of air pollution in terrestrial ecosystems, CRO Ministry of science (2007-2011) Prospective neurodevelopment study of children prenatally exposed to methyl-mercury, CRO Ministry of science (2008-2012). As Croatian scientist in charge, he is involved in the: EU FP6 integrated project PHIME (Public health impact of long-term, low-level mixed element exposure in susceptible population strata), the UN ECE ICP Vegetation (Heavy Metals in European Mosses), Eureka E! 3266 EUROENVIRON WEBAIR (Web-based Air Quality Assessment and Management), EU FP7 -TPT-2008- RTD-1 Supporting Research on Climate Friendly Transport (REACT), and in 2009 co-directed the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Warfare Ecology: Synthesis, Priorities and Policy Implications for Peace and Security in Vieques, Puerto Rico, 2009. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 professional papers published in professional magazines and scientific journals and has presented at numerous international conferences.