In Memoriam Assistant Professor Krešimir Kostović, MD, PhD 16 October 1969 - 15 October 2017.

On a Sunday afternoon almost six months ago, we were deeply moved by the news that our Krešimir is no longer with us. The sad news spread from Sarajevo with the speed only most horrible and saddest news can achieve. And everybody who was reached by these news wondered whether it was possible and whether it was true. Because our professor Kostović left us a day before his 48th birthday. Krešimir Kostović was born on the 16th October 1969 in Zagreb, where he completed primary and secondary education. He enrolled at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 1988, and got his medical degree in 1995. He was student instructor at the Department of Anatomy for five years. During his studies at the time of the Homeland War, from 1991 to 1992, he collaborated with the Section for Information and Investigation of the Medical Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia. He did his two-year internship in the Merkur University Hospital, with a one-year break for mandatory army service. After internship, he got his licence to practice in 1998. He started his residency in dermatovenereology in 1998 in the Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases of the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital in Zagreb. During his residency, he completed the specialty postgraduate studies in dermatovenereology. In November 2001, he passed the specialty examination from dermatology and venereology and started working as a dermatovenereologist at the same Department. His areas of work were photodermatology and phototherapy, as well as phlebology. Krešimir Kostović then moved to the Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases of the Zagreb University Hospital Centre and the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 2003. At the Department, he further developed his knowledge and skills in phototherapy and phlebology, and acquired further expertise in laser therapy in Croatia and abroad. In 2004, he completed his doctoral studies "Biomedicine and Health" at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine. With his collaborators, he was first in Croatia to introduce photodynamic therapy for surface skin cancers, the topic of his doctoral thesis, and continued his further education in this area after his thesis, the last time at the University Hospital in Vienna in 2015. Since 2003-2004 academic year, he had participated in graduate dermatovenereology course at the School of Medicine as assistant. In 2010, he became part-time instructor at the Department of Dermatovenereology of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, at Šalata. After he defended his doctoral thesis, he was elected to the position of senior assistant. He also participated in the postgraduate dermatovenereology studies since 2008, and became a course leader at these studies in 2015. He participated in several research projects funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. In the last few years, Assistant Professor Kostović focused his work on the treatment of patients with severe forms of psoriasis. He continued his training in biological drug treatment of psoriasis in Rome in 2008 and then in Luebeck in 2014. He enjoyed working with patients, and the patients appreciated that and liked him. For them, he was one of the best doctors. He had a great understanding for them and always had a patience for their problems. He was liked by his collaborators - for his kind way with patients and collaborators and especially for his specific sense of humor. As a head of a ward in a typical female-dominated dermatology department, he "ruled" it in his special way - he asked for order, discipline and hard work but always protected his collaborators. He was an outstanding teacher, having a power to make students interested in dermatology topics. Before his teaching position at the School of Medicine in 2003, he was elected to the position of an instructor at the College of Health Studies in 2003 and then as a lecturer in 2009 for the Dermatovenereology course. He was the Secretary of the postgraduate course "Use of lasers in dermatology" at the School of Medicine, and then the chair of the postgraduate course "Non-invasive body shaping with radio-frequency technology". In 2012, he was granted the title of primaries. Since 2016, he was the member of the Committee for Medicine of the Croatian Insurance Fund. Assistant Professor Krešimir Kostović was a highly published author - he published more than 40 articles in indexed journal (16 in journals indexed in Current Contents), as well as several chapters in books and handbooks. He was a long-term member of the Croatian Association of Physicians, Croatian Society of Dermatology and Venereology, and European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. Assistant Professor Krešimir Kostović was invited at many congresses and symposia in Croatia and abroad. With joy and sadness we now remember our many trips together, which were always special and charming. He was always direct in his communication, always clear in his opinions. I personally loved so much this trait of his, nowadays so rare and precious. Above everything, he loved his family, enjoyed in their summer vacations and travels to far-away countries, from where he would always share a photo or two with us. He liked his friends, too, and was a soul of many gatherings. He was not a sports type, but he followed sports, especially football - he was a passionate fan of Hajduk football club from Split! He loved his "second family", the one at Šalata. He was an outstanding colleague and collaborator. He gave our young residents not only his wide medical knowledge and scientific curiosity but also the knowledge that is not in books - how to live and work in a team, how to respect older colleagues and superiors. And our young colleagues loved that and respected him enormously! He was a good spirit of all our celebrations, always ready for a joke or a song … Dear Krešo, we miss you a lot and will be missing you for a long, long time!