The beginning of a new era in precision medicine
The largest undertaking to date at Łukasiewicz – PORT, supported with €15 million in funding under the Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence call, aims to optimise diagnostics for oncological and neurobiological diseases, develop concepts for personalised medicine, design new diagnostic tools and implement them into everyday medical practice, and—through international collaboration with partners—establish a centre of scientific excellence within the institute.
What does P4Health mean?
The project is intended to mark the shift from the traditional “one drug fits all” treatment model to predictive, preventive, personalised and participatory medicine. This will be possible by integrating clinical research with basic research: biological samples obtained from hospitals will be analysed using technologies that allow simultaneous assessment of all genes or proteins. The information gathered in this process will enable the adjustment of treatment to individual patients and will ultimately be passed back to the attending physician.
On 18 February, Łukasiewicz – PORT officially inaugurated P4Health together with representatives of the partner institutions forming the consortium: CERBM in Strasbourg (France) and King’s College London.
The project leader, Associate Professor Witold Konopka, PhD, emphasised that the key word in P4Health is stratification, understood as differentiating patients based on specific characteristics, diagnostic results or responses to treatment—allowing therapy to be tailored to each individual.
“We want to establish standards that will enable physicians to choose the right therapy for individual patients.”
Dr Michał Malewicz, who initiated PORT’s journey toward obtaining and implementing the project, highlighted the importance of experience gained in previous initiatives and the gradual development of institutional competencies:
“We began several years ago with a smaller joint Twinning grant and have now reached a much more complex project. This is not the end—we aim to continue growing and eventually become part of an international excellence hub. Experience shows that early stages cannot be skipped; individual activities and collaborative efforts are necessary. To become a fully developed centre ready for major challenges, we must move step by step, and that takes time and commitment.”
P4Health – Technology Platforms and Research Project
The P4Health project has been divided into five technological platforms integrating clinical research, technology, bioanalytics and cell engineering.
Clinical and Biobanking Platform
Leader – Associate Professor Patrycja Gazińska, PhD
Clinical samples arrive here first and will be analysed across subsequent platforms using all available technologies. This platform enables the collection of biological samples and the data obtained during analyses.
Spatial and Computational Pathology Platform
Leader – Associate Professor Patrycja Gazińska, PhD
This platform will use biomarkers to analyse pathology, combining spatial and computational technologies to precisely determine disease mechanisms.
Bioanalytics Platform
Leader – Associate Professor Witold Konopka, PhD
A personalised biomedical profile of disease will be developed. The platform focuses on genomics, proteomics and metabolomics—studying genome changes in response to various factors and metabolites formed during metabolic processes.
Functional Validation in Disease Models Platform
Leader – Dr Agnieszka Krzyżosiak
This platform will conduct pharmacological tests in previously created disease models that reflect patient biology.
Cell Engineering and Cell-based Therapies Platform
Leader – Associate Professor Grzegorz Chodaczek, PhD
Using cell engineering, scientists will select the appropriate “tailor-made” therapy, including advancements in immunotherapy.
A key part of P4Health is the research workflow, whose role is to validate all platforms.
Associate Professor Patrycja Gazińska, PhD, who leads the scientific research component, notes:
“It is essential that samples collected in hospitals—enriched with all data obtained during analysis—will be deposited in the biobank being developed at Łukasiewicz – PORT, where they will be available to researchers worldwide.”
Collaboration with clinicians will be crucial for the proper functioning of the platforms.
A Key Project for the Development of Łukasiewicz – PORT
The strategy of the Łukasiewicz Research Network for the coming decade includes establishing new organisational structures—centres of excellence—that will implement the principles of a modern innovation ecosystem through interdisciplinary teams working at national level and collaborating with leading European partners.
The project is planned for six years, but true success will be measured by the continuation of international collaboration after its completion and transforming Wrocław into part of a European excellence hub—a centre implementing personalised medicine and artificial intelligence for advanced biomedical data analysis.
“Wrocław has great potential in biotechnology, and Łukasiewicz – PORT has the infrastructure to study rare diseases at the molecular level. P4Health is one of the most ambitious precision medicine initiatives currently underway in Europe. We hope to jointly revolutionise diagnostics and patient treatment,” says Prof. Jarosław Bosy, Director of Łukasiewicz – PORT.
The institute aims to become, by 2030, the leader in applied research in Central and Eastern Europe and a reference centre for advanced diagnostics—ensuring effective coordination of international grants, stable revenue from services and IP, and acting as an incubator for spin-offs. The next stage of development will be becoming a leading centre for applied research in the EU and an advisory body for the government and NGOs.
A Success for Polish Science – 3× Teaming for Excellence
P4Health is not the only project selected in the Teaming for Excellence competition. Three centres of excellence will be launched simultaneously:
- Centre of Excellence (TRIO-VI CoE) – coordinated by the International Centre for Translational Eye Research, Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS
- Scientific and Technological Centre for Astroparticle Physics (Astrocent Plus) – coordinated by the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center PAS
- Centre of Excellence for Precision Phenotyping and Biobanking Data (P4Health) – coordinated by the Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT
This is a major success for Polish science—Poland is the only country to secure funding for three such projects in this European competition.
The joint United in Excellence kick-off meeting took place on 19 February, on the Polish Science Day, at the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw, with the participation of representatives from the European Commission, the European Research Executive Agency (REA), the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Polish Academy of Sciences.
During the ceremony, Prof. Jarosław Bosy emphasised that Łukasiewicz – PORT has a clear goal and is consistently pursuing it:
“By working together, sharing knowledge, building common databases and trusting each other, we can achieve ambitious goals. This is why we decided to scale up the centre to the level of Wrocław and have already taken the first steps by signing the agreement to establish the Wrocław BioTech Hub. With the collaboration of seven Wrocław research institutions, integrating the scientific community becomes a reality.”