The János Szentágothai Research Centre of the University of Pécs is a new research institute established on the basis of modern international science organizational and management normatives. It covers all aspects of education, research and innovation at the fields of biomedical, natural and environmental sciences. The infrastructure, instrumentation and expertise of the 20 research groups operating in the building provide an excellent basis to become a well-known, leading research facility in Hungary, as well as in Central-Europe with an extensive and fruitful collaboration network.
Our main aims are:
- to concentrate the research power of the South-Transdanubian Region on health and environmental industry
- to serve explorative and innovative research potentials by establishing a critical researcher mass with well-equipped new laboratories of the highest standard
- to have strong and tight cooperation between academic researchers and industrial partners, as well as to provide an optimal background for knowledge transfer
- to reflect quickly and flexibly to the modern research trends and to the needs of knowledge-based economy
- to provide external services supporting the innovative projects (eg. patent research and management, legal advice)
The main fields of research in accordance with the R&D&I strategy of the university:
1. Genetics, pharmaco-genomics, functional genomics and proteomics:
It introduces new methods in human diagnostics, which serve as the basis for optimized, individual-based pharmacotherapy. It also analyses human gene functions in several pathophysiological processes and identifies new drug targets. The broad mass spectrometry platform provides facility to investigate biomarkers at the protein level.
2. Neurobiology, neurophysiology, neuroendocrinology:
The main focus is on neurodegeneration, retinopathy, neuropathies, neuroprotection, pain and analgesia with morphological, elecrophysiological, and complex behavioral techniques.
3. Molecular pharmacology and cardiovascular research:
It is an integrative, complex analysis of the pathophysiological mechanisms in animal models of inflammatory (lung, skin, joint, colon), painful (neuropathy, migraine) and cardiovascular diseases with special emphasis on the role of neuro-immune interactions. Model systems involve cell cultures, isolated organs, as well as mechanism and disease models. Investigational techniques include molecular biological, biochemical, immunological, morphological and functional measurements. A complex in vivo animal imaging facility has been established with high resolution in vivo micro CT, laser Doppler scanning, intravital videomicroscopy, fluorescence molecular tomography, and luminescence imaging.
4. Biophysics, cell and immune biology:
It investigates muscle functions, mechanisms, cell-cycle regulation and signal transduction processes. There is a broad range of digital optical microscopes, polarization microscopes, fluorescence microscope, surface and transmission electronmicroscopes, laser confocal microscopes, multifunctional atomic force microscopes.
5. Biotechnology, signal transduction research, reproductive immunology, lymphoid organogenesis:
It focuses on studying ageing, regeneration processes, tumor growth, inflammation, as well as the molecular background of other specific disease conditions and their treatments. A 3-dimensional lung tissue model has been developed and patented for drug testing, target identification, and studying inter- and intracellular signal transduction in the human pulmonary tissue. Developmental biology of peripheral lymphoid organs, lymphoid neogenesis in chronic inflammations are important topics of immunology. Monoclonal antibodies are produced, cellular and molecular immunological protocols are performed, transgenic/gene-deficient mice, multiple transgenic mutants, ellogeneic and xenogeneic chimeras have been generated.
6. Virology, microbiology, and plant biology:
The Biosafety level-3 virology laboratory investigates antropozoonozis (hanta virus, vector-transmitted infections). The microbial biotechnological research deals with all processes from fermentation to structural and functional analysis at the level of the whole genome, as well as from genomics to fermentation through intelligent molecule design. Plant biology focuses on adaptation mechanisms of natural and agronomical plant populations to rapidly changing environmental conditions.
7. Laboratory diagnostics, analytics, lab-on-a chip technology:
It focuses on identifying early markers in coagulation, metabolic, endocrine, cariovascular, inflammatory- and immune disorders, as well as infectious and neurological diseases.
8. Green chemistry, analytical chemistry and geoanalytics:
It aims at developing dendrimers, which are able to form inclusion derivatives with the target compunds. It focuses on the development of novel, environmental-friendly biosorbents, biocomposites for environmetal technology. as well as on qualitative and quantitative analyses of biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical samples by high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, capillary and microchip electrophoresis and LC-MS, GC-MS, CE-MS methods.
9. High-field terahertz research, spectroscopy, and atmospheric physics:
It deals with the generation and application of terahertz pulses and searching for new application possibilities in the fields of material-, medical-, and life sciences. Spectrofluorimetric characterization of NIR-FL materials and the development of nanoprobes of high stability and high fluorescence intensity are useful in several fields of biology and biomedicine. Numerical models describing precipitation formation in clouds provide a better forecast of hail stone formation in thunderstorms.
10. Smart city technologies:
It focuses on identifying the technological solutions needed for middle sized cities of EU convergence regions to efficiently reach climate change and carbon reduction targets (low energy consumption building, energy efficiency through refurbishing. efficiency development of city energy grids).