Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, M.D., Ph.D., dr. h.c. multi, is a world-renowned otosurgeon, a specialist in otorhinolaryngology, audiology, phoniatrics, and pediatric otolaryngology.

Founder and director of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing since its establishment in 1996. Earlier, since 1993, the creator of the Diagnostic-Treatment-Rehabilitation Center for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired “Cochlear Center”, the first in Poland and only the second European center providing comprehensive medical care to patients with hearing disorders. Since 2003, he has created and manages the World Hearing Center of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, the leading worldwide hearing implant center. These centers, under the guidance of Prof. H. Skarzynski, consistently develop and implement new medical procedures for the treatment of new groups of patients with hearing disorders and new programs for early and efficient detection and treatment of hearing disorders, which have been globally recognized and are presently implemented and developed worldwide.

In 2024, Professor Henryk Skarżyński received the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish state decoration, in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the development of Polish medicine, particularly for people with interpersonal communication disorders, for his achievements in scientific, clinical, teaching and organizational activities, and popularizing Polish science worldwide.

Since 2011, he has been the National Consultant in Otorhinolaryngology. Earlier, he had been the National Consultant in Audiology and Phoniatrics (2008-2011 and 1998-2001) and National Expert in Audiology and Phoniatrics (1994-1998). He is an Honorary Professor at the Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, USA (1998), a Professor Extraordinary at the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University Nicolae Testemitanu in Chișinău, Moldova (2012), and an Honorary Professor of the National Center of Mother and Child in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2016), as well as doctor honoris causa of the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw (2011), the University of Warsaw (2012), the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (2014) and the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (2022).

Prof. H. Skarżyński was the first surgeon in Poland to perform cochlear implantations in children and adults (1992), bone conduction hearing implants in children (1997), auditory brainstem implants (1998), and middle ear implants (2003). In 1997, he developed and implemented in clinical practice the novel method of preserving preoperative residual hearing and treatment of various types of partial deafness (Partial Deafness Treatment – PDT). Results of the first groups of adults and children treated using his method were presented at the EUFOS congress in Berlin and the ESPCI conference in Antwerp in 2000. Since 2002, as the global pioneer of the PDT method, based on good results obtained by the patients implanted using his method, he progressively broadened the indications regarding the preserved natural hearing complemented with the electric hearing from the cochlear implant. In this way, he extended the cochlear implantation indications to help millions of patients, particularly seniors – the ever-growing group in modern societies. Thus, he initiated the so-called Polish school of otology in the world’s science and medicine.

Prof. H. Skarżyński’s scientific and research activities focus in the first place on the topics of physiology and disorders of hearing and balance, in particular on early detection and treatment of hearing disorders such as total and partial deafness, applications of electronic hearing prostheses, new methods of ear reconstruction surgery and new technologies in ear surgery and audiology, such as telemedicine for remote diagnostics and rehabilitation. He authored many innovative solutions and ideas, patents and new implantable devices (middle ear prosthesis, cochlear implant electrode), new tools for evaluating therapeutical effects (Skarzynski et al. scale for the assessment of the partial deafness therapy, Skarzynski’s scale for the surgical treatment of congenital ear malformations, Skarzynski’s scale in tinnitus therapy) and diagnostic (applications for screening tests of sensory organs, the Sense Examination Capsule).

Prof. H. Skarżyński carries out many educational and teaching activities in Poland and internationally. Noteworthy are the demonstration surgeries he conducted on-site in several dozen countries in Asia, South America, and Europe, and online, e.g., as a part of the LION Global Otology – Neurootology Live Surgical Broadcast (2008-2020). Since 2007, he has taught and performed demonstration surgeries at the international otosurgery courses Window Approach Workshop WAW, which he created and organized. They are dedicated to the technique of a minimally invasive approach to the cochlea through the round window, developed by Prof. Skarżyński. There have been more than 80 editions of the WAW workshops so far.

He is a distinguished academic teacher, conducting for many years lectures and courses for students, physicians, scientists, and experts from Poland and abroad, during international congresses and on invitation in various scientific centers in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. He created a unique course in university education, Speech and Language Therapy, and Audiology, organized in cooperation with the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. He initiated the Post-secondary School of Audiology at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, training hearing aid specialists. He is a co-author and lecturer at the Study of Objective Hearing Tests (Studium Obiektywnych Badań Słuchu – SOBS) (from 2003) and creator of the Academy of Otosurgery (86 editions from 1992). He organizes and lecturers the postgraduate courses in Otolaryngology, audiology, and phoniatrics (from 1983), as well as language and speech therapy for the deaf (from 1998), and pre-graduate courses for students of the Medical University in Warsaw (1980–2000). Lecturer and organizer of the continuing education courses for audiologists and otosurgeons (from 2003) in cooperation with the Hearing and Speech Sciences Laboratory, Brigham Young University w Provo (USA) and the Department of Communicative Disorders, East Tennessee State University (USA).

Prof. H. Skarżyński is an experienced organizer of Polish and international scientific conferences, including the major global congresses of audiologists and otorhinolaryngologists such as the 9th European Symposium on Paediatric Cochlear Implantation ESPCI (2009), 10th EFAS European Federation of Audiology Societies Congress (2011), 1st World Tinnitus Congress & 12th International Tinnitus Seminar (2017), XXV International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group Biennial Symposium (2017), 4th International Symposium on Otosclerosis and Stapes Surgery (2018), 35th Politzer Society Meeting (2019), 2nd Word Congress of Otology (2019), XXXV World Congress of Audiology (2022), 7th International Conference on Hyperacusis and Misophonia ICHM7 (2024) and 59th Inner Ear Biology Workshop (2024). He is the initiator and organizer of the Congress „Health of Poles”, whose first edition was in 2019. He also organized many other international scientific conferences, scientific & training workshops, and bilateral symposia. In 1998, in recognition of his merits in promoting Poland as the conference-hosting country, he received the title of “Honorary Ambassador of Polish Congresses”.

In 1993-1998, he organized programs for the early detection of hearing loss in newborns and was the signatory of the European Consensus of Newborn Hearing Screening, signed in Milan, Italy, in 1998. During the first Polish Presidency in the European Union in 2011, he initiated and coordinated activities related to the priority “Equal opportunities for children with communication disorders in European countries” that he proposed, which was the main priority of the Polish Presidency. The significant success of these actions has been the adoption of two international documents: the European Consensus Statement on Hearing Screening in Pre-School and School-Age Children and the European Consensus Statement on Hearing, Vision and Speech Screening in Pre-School and School-Age Children. They were signed in June 2011 in Warsaw by the representatives of European scientific societies from 27 countries and organizations of European audiologists, phoniatrists, speech therapists, and ophthalmologists. These two consensuses were the basis for adopting the EU Council Conclusions on Early Detection and Treatment of Communication Disorders in Children, Including the Use of e-Health Tools and Innovative Solutions” in Brussels on 2 December 2011.

He authored and co-authored more than 5 thousand scientific papers and over 4 thousand reports on international and national conferences, congresses, and symposiums. He participated in and led over 100 research and development projects. He is a member of the leading prestigious national and international scientific societies, a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of the Polish Medical Society, Polish Society of Otolaryngologists Head and Neck Surgeons. He was the first Polish member of the American Otological Society. He is a member of CORLAS – Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum, American Neurotology Society, American Academy of Audiology, founding member of the European Academy of Otology and Neuro-Otology EAONO, European Federation of Audiology Societies EFAS, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the founding member of the Hearing Forum at the WHO.

Prof. H. Skarżyński received numerous awards and distinctions for his tireless efforts, including Polish and foreign state decorations. The most important are the Order of the White Eagle (2024), Medal of the Centenary of Regaining Independence (2018), Polonia Restituta Commander’s Cross (2012), Polonia Restituta Officer’s Cross (2006), Polonia Restituta Knight’s Cross (2000), Bronze Medal for Merits for the Country Defense (1978), and Bronze Cross of Merit (1977). The highest decorations from other countries include orders bestowed by the King of Belgium, the President of Georgia, the Order of Merit from the President of Ukraine, the order “Ecce Homo’ and the order „Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” bestowed by Pope Francis. Prof. Henryk Skarżynski is also a laureate of the International Order of the Smile, given by children.

A unique place in the impressive collection of Prof. H. Skarżyński’s awards have the three Guinness Records. The first Guinness Record won his collection of 1377 snails in 2012. The other two won patients of Prof. Henryk Skarżyński for “Meeting in one place and time of the highest number of patients with hearing implants”. The patients meet every year on 15 July at the World Hearing Center in Kajetany to celebrate the anniversary of the first cochlear implantation in Poland. The Guinness Record was set in 2012 during the patients and families meeting on the 20th anniversary of the first cochlear implant and beat in 2017 during the meeting on the 25th anniversary.

In 2014, prof. H. Skarżyński initiated and organized the first in the world International Music Festival for Children, Youths, and Adults with Hearing Disorders “Beats of Cochlea”, dedicated to people with hearing loss and deafness who, thanks to cochlear implants, regained hearing and develop musical talents. The annual editions of the Festival are world-renowned musical and scientific events. He is also a co-author of music therapy programs for patients with hearing implants (e.g., Music in Human Auditory Development); he has also organized five international conferences on music therapy. He was the world’s pioneer in including music therapy in the mandatory rehabilitation program after hearing implantation in children and adults, which makes the rehabilitation process more effective.

He is the author of several scripts for documentary and instruction films, occasional poems, songs, special occasion spectacles, shows, and a libretto for the musical ‘Silence Interrupted’. In 2017, he produced the documentary film „My Moonlight Sonata”. In 2019, in the Warsaw Chamber Opera premiered the musical “Silence Interrupted”, describing the fates of patients of Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, based on his libretto. Presently, he is working on two film scripts on interpersonal communication problems in modern society.

Prof. Henryk Skarżyński is also the author of the film novel „The Return of Beethoven” which, through the tragedy of a famous composer and pianist, shows the artistic achievements of the patients of the World Hearing Center and the achievements of the Polish program of deafness treatment.