Laura Hammer, PhD (born: Kundratova) completed her Master‘s Study in Psychology in 2019 at the Pavol Jozef Safarik University (UPJS) in Kosice, Slovakia. In her diploma thesis, she put emphasis on the importance of perceived social support in psychiatric patients and its relationship with the number of hospitalizations. She conducted the research during the last year of her master‘s study at the 1st Psychiatric Clinic at Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Košice, Slovakia. Laura has been a PhD student in the Public Health study program at the Department of Social and Behavioural Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UPJS Kosice. In her dissertation, she focused on the estimation of the prevalence of affective disorders in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Her interests also include research in the possibilities of interventions in patients with these comorbidities. The PhD study was carried out in collaboration with East Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Kosice and University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. She defended her PhD Thesis in August 2025 at UPJS. In her free time, Laura does a lot of voluntary work, which she considers to be a very important part of her life. Helping psychiatric patients in rehabilitation center and out-patient clinics, working with the Mental Health League, and getting funds in order to improve the quality of life of these patients.
PhD project title: Cardiovascular diseases and mood disorders
Team members: UPJS supervisors: Dr. Iveta Nagyova, Dr. Dagmar Breznoscakova, MD | Collaborators from University of Groningen, the Netherlands: Prof. Dr. Robbert Sanderman, Dr. Joke Fleer