Lul Raka, MD, PhD

Lul Raka is Professor of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control at the University of Prishtina, Kosovo. He serves as Chair of the National Program for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) at the Ministry of Health and is President of the Kosova Society for Microbiology. His main research interests focus on the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial use and resistance, and patient safety. Dr. Raka earned his MD, Master’s degree, and PhD from the University of Prishtina. He was a U.S. State Department Fellow at the University of South Carolina and at the Fogarty International Center, New York. He has also served as Vice-Chair of the Kosovo Accreditation Agency and as a member of the Scientific Council at the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology. Internationally, Dr. Raka is an assessor and expert panel member of the Global Antimicrobial Stewardship Accreditation Scheme (GAMSAS), led by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, UK. He also contributes as an external expert at the Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education in Tirana, Albania, and serves on numerous national and international committees and advisory boards. Since 2024, he has been a member of the WHO Advisory Group on AMR. He also coordinates the ICARS (International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions) project in Kosovo. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Raka chaired the Advisory Board for COVID-19 at the Ministry of Health of Kosovo. Earlier, during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, he worked as a WHO consultant for infection prevention and control in Liberia, and CDC consultant in Ukraine (2025). He has coordinated or managed 11 national and international scientific projects and has been invited to speak at more than 40 international conferences across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. His academic contributions include numerous peer-reviewed papers, professional monographs, book chapters, and translations into the local Albanian language. He has also led the drafting of several national strategies, action plans, administrative guidelines, and manuals in health and science. Dr. Raka has been recognized with multiple awards, including “Scientist of the Year” (2012) by the Ministry of Education and Science for his contributions to science in Kosovo, and “European of the Year” (2020) by the EU Office in Kosovo for his leadership in raising public awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic.