Łukasiewicz, the third largest research network in Europe and the largest Polish research organisation, has concluded a cooperation agreement with Medical University of Lodz. MUL is another Polish university, yet the first one of the medical profile, which Łukasiewicz Institutes intensify their collaboration with. Łukasiewicz has also joined EIT Health, a leading European public-private partnership for innovation in medicine and health care.

Under the agreement of 15th September this year, signed under the patronage of EIT Health, Łukasiewicz and Medical University of Lodz will implement projects to support entrepreneurship, particularly academic one, in the health area: one of the four priority areas of the largest Polish research network. Moreover, formal inclusion in the community has been confirmed by EIT Health. In practice, both agreements expand the collaboration potential between EIT Health partners in Poland and open the doors for new, innovative projects in medicine and health care which will also be available to Polish patients.

‘The two agreements are a significant step in the development of the medicine of the future in Poland.  The contract of The Łukasiewicz Research Network with The Medical University of Lodz, already a partner of EIT Health, and the officially confirmed partnership of Łukasiewicz and EIT Health open up new R&D, educational and start-up opportunities. We have created a point of contact and information flow for Łukasiewicz to facilitate the collaboration with EIT Health and all our university partners. The development of EIT Health partnership in Poland is one of the key factors for success in innovative medicine and health care‘, said Mikołaj Gurdała, Manager of EIT Health InnoStars. ‘Formally, it‘s Łukasiewicz – PORT: Polish Centre for Technology Development that entered into the partnership with EIT Health. Łukasiewicz – PORT joining the community of EIT Health will not only strengthen the cooperation between partners in Poland but it will also contribute to the development of new innovation schemes and support for start-ups, including biotechnological ones‘, adds Mikołaj Gurdała.

‘Today Łukasiewicz is not gaining two but 150 partners, the crucial institutions, companies and universities of Europe, to cooperate on research and development projects, which, hopefully, will transform the face of medical industry and the healthcare system in Poland. This is a watershed moment and the public eye is on the researchers and doctors in the expectation of the solutions which will warrant health safety of the highest standard for all the Poles. We are taking an important step in this direction by combining Łukasiewicz research potential, which is composed of medical technologies, biotechnology or drug research, with the knowledge and competence of EIT Health partners, with the Medical University of Lodz at the forefront. I am glad that the cooperation activities we have carried out so far with the Medical University and Prof. Lucyna Woźniak on the national ground are moving to the European level and I am convinced that it will soon result in numerous innovative projects‘, underlines Piotr Dardziński, President of The Łukasiewicz Research Network.

‘Under the agreement between Łukasiewicz Research Network and our university within EIT Health, research and development projects will be jointly operationalised, education programmes will be implemented and we will exchange experience and know-how in the acceleration of new spin-offs and start-ups. We want to build new research platforms in the fields of medicine, clinical trials and health care. We have been actively engaged in the co-creation of innovations in Poland and in Europe and we educate future medical specialists at European level within the framework of EIT Health for over 6 years now‘, says Prof. Lucyna Woźniak, Vice-Rector of the Medical University of Lodz.

The Medical University of Lodz is the sixth university, the first one of the medical profile, that Lukasiewicz formalises research and development cooperation with. To date, the research network has concluded the agreements with Warsaw University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology, Łódź University of Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology and Poznań University of Technology. Conducting joint projects with academic community is aimed at strengthening Łukasiewicz’s research and development offer for business.

One of the projects that the agreement parties will initiate only next year is Smart Rescue Bootcamp: the training on management and practical use of the tools for 12 up-and-coming solutions to enhance the quality and efficiency of the health care provided in hospitals and emergency departments. The project will be intended for start-ups, scale-ups and young entrepreneurs, European researchers offering products and services in MedTech, BioTech, e-Health, Food, Healthy Life and Ageing.

The agreement was signed at the round-table meeting at EIT Health Think Tank in Warsaw. Representatives of government institutions, companies, universities and start-ups discussed a wider use of the artificial intelligence in medicine and health care. The Medical University of Lodz was represented by Prof. Lucyna Woźniak and Prof. Paweł Ptaszyński.