Zdzislaw J. Ryn is professor of psychiatry of Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Hi is a former Ambassador of Poland to Chile and Bolivia, and honorary professor of Academia Chilena de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Polish Academy of Science an others. He organized and participated in many mountain and scientific expeditions to mention some as: Caucasus in 1966; Hindu-Kush in 1971; Andes in 1973-1974; Andes in Bolivia in 1978-79; Aconcagua in 1985; Mexican Volcanoes in 1988-89; Australia in 1995; Eastern Island Mountains and Caves in 1995 and 1998 and others. He is an author of over 100 articles and 3 books about the mountain and medicine.
Professor Zdzislaw Ryn dedicated his life to study a human behavior on high altitude, especially the human brain. In the years 1960-1985 psychological and psychiatric researches was conducted by him among a group of 80 Polish eminent climbers during the expeditions to Hindu Kush Mountains and to the Andes. Prof. Ryn present his studies on many international symposiums, concerning to psychopathological reactions under high-altitude stress, both biological and psychological, including mental, emotional and neuropsychological responses and their consequences. He focus on the following subjects: -personality and motivation in mountain climbing; -first step into the brain exposed to high altitudes; -the limits of acclimatization: – how to protect your brain at high altitudes and how to survive in the extreme conditions? -How Indian Quechua and Aymara could live at Andean Altiplano? – Soroche – acute mountain sickness in the pre-Colombian cultures; – archeological medicine in the Andes (sanctuaries and “mommies”); He is an active member of the Polish Chapter.