Rector

Rimantas Benetis – professor, PhD, cardiac surgeon, Rector of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences,Head of Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Honorary Professor of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The professor was a leader of the cardiac surgery team which completed the first heart transplantation in Kaunas and the first lung and heart-lung transplantation in the Baltic States. He received following awards: the Cross of the Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania, the Cross of the Officer of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. Professor is a member of the Lithuanian Society of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, member of the European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), member of the European Valve Repair Group (EVRG), ect.

Born on 3 July 1957, in Noriškiai village, Plungė district.

Education and career
1963 to 1966 – Plungė primary school,
1966 to 1974 – Plungė secondary school,
1974 to 1980 – Kaunas Institute of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine (present day Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU)).

1980 to 1981 – surgery intern at the Clinics of the Ministry of Health Kaunas Institute of Medicine (present-day LSMU Hospital Kaunas Clinics).
1981 – 1984 trauma surgeon at the Ukmergė District Hospital.
September 1984 until now – Clinics of the Ministry of Health Kaunas Institute of Medicine (present-day LSMU Hospital Kaunas Clinics) doctor heart surgeon.
1988 – postgraduate Cardiac surgery student at A. Bakoulev Cardiac Surgery Institute in Moscow, Russia (3.5 months).
1989 – postgraduate Cardiac surgery student at the Vilnius University Hospital Clinic of Cardiac and Vascular Diseases (3.5 months).
1990 – 1991 cardiac surgeon at the Odense University Hospital Heart and Chest Surgery Clinic, Denmark (7 months).
1991 – 1992 cardiac surgeon at Aarhus University Hospital Department of Cardiology (7 months).
1992 – 1993 cardiac surgeon at Ålborg Hospital Heart and Thoracic Surgery Clinic, Denmark (18 months).
1993 – 1994, internship at Leuven St Luc University Hospital, Belgium, at the Cardiovascular, Thoracic surgery clinic (11 months).
1994 – cardiac surgeon at the Lund University Hospital Heart and Thoracic Surgery Clinic, Sweden (7 months).
From January 1994 until present – head of the Cardiac Surgery Clinics (presently Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Clinics) at Kaunas Medicine Academy (present day LSMU) and Kaunas Academic Clinics (present day LSMU Hospital Kaunas Clinics) (numbers of staff have increased from 287 in 2015 to 304 at present).
From April 1996 to August 2008 senior cardiovascular surgery laboratory research associate at the Biomedical Research Institute (BMTI) (senior researcher since 20 November 2000).
From 1997 to 1998 internship at the Royal Brompton & HarefieldHospital, Heart Surgery Clinic in London, England (6 months).
1998 – 2000 consultant surgeon at Umeå Regional Hospital, Sweden (24 months).
From September 2004 until present – senior researcher at the Cardiology Institute of Clinical Cardiology Laboratory (chief researcher from April 2011 until present).
From September 2004 until present – director of the Cardiology Institute at the Kaunas University of Medicine (present-day LSMU).
From 2005 until present member of the Senate of the Kaunas University of Medicine (present-day LSMU).
From December 2015 to July 2020 member of the Council of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.
From September 2016 to 23 September 2020 president of the Senate of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.

Defended his doctorate in 1990, received the titles of associate professor in 1995, and professor in 2005 respectively.

Has published 457 research papers, delivered papers at international conferences and congresses, as well as expert specialist training sessions in the USA, India, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Poland.

Professor consults and treats patients, that suffer from cardiac and cardiovascular diseases, reads lectures for students and residents, conducts tutorials, seminars and practical exercises. From 1996 to present Rimantas has been the supervisor of 23 doctoral students, 10 of those have defended their doctorates, consultant of 10 doctoral students, 6 of those doctoral students have defended their doctorates. From 2010 to 2020 Rimantas has taken part in 8 biomedical clinical research studies as the main researcher.

Leisure activities: hunting.

Family life: married, wife Gražina – is an ophthalmologist, has three children, son Pranas – is an engineer, son Rimantas – is an IT specialist, daughter Rūta – is an architect.

Is a proficient user of  Lithuanian, English, Russian, French, Danish, and Swedish languages.