A consortium of 10 research centers teaming up to conduct interdisciplinary studies ranging from fundamental research to developing new methods for diagnosing and treating diseases of the nervous system, cancer, as well as circulatory and age-related diseases. This is the shortest description of a major investment project under way in Warsaw, called the Centre for Preclinical Research and Technology (CePT).

CePT, the largest biomedical and biotechnology undertaking in Central and Eastern Europe, is the focus of this issue ofThe Polish Science Voice.

The CePT project is coordinated by the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW) in partnership with the University of Warsaw (UW), the Warsaw University of Technology (PW) and seven research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The project aims to establish a cutting-edge research centre in Warsaw to ensure the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the patient’s bed. The centre will comprise physics-and-chemistry laboratories, biomolecular and biotechnological labs, and biomedical engineering and biomaterials technology laboratories, in addition to facilities conducting preclinical research on animal models of lifestyle diseases and specialized facilities for clinical research.

What diseases will the project focus on? We asked Prof. Sławomir Majewski, vice-rector for science and international relations at the Medical University of Warsaw. “Oncological diseases, which means cancer, as well as cardiovascular diseases and disorders of the neurological system, also known as neurodegenerative diseases,” he says. “These are the biggest ailments plaguing contemporary societies that also have a huge impact on the economy.”

The project requires effective structures for cooperation with industry, with both large companies in the biotechnology sector and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the field of diagnostics, telemedicine, and nanotechnology.

The collaboration of physicists, chemists, biologists, computer scientists, physiologists, pharmacologists, biomedical engineers and clinicians is expected to help create new quality in research.

Each of the partners in the consortium has different tasks and makes different use of EU funds. This is an innovative model without a parallel in Europe. The project’s total budget is almost zl.390 million; 85 percent of this amount comes from the European Regional Development Fund and 15 percent from the national budget.

“One of the main objectives of the CePT project and one of its chief assets is that it combines the potential inherent in outstanding researchers with opportunities presented by a network of laboratories fitted with high-end equipment,” says Majewski. “Our goal is to develop as many diagnostic and therapeutic solutions as possible and make sure they stand a chance of being put into practice.”