Strategic Development of the Translational Brain Diseases Centre of the Fahrenheit Union of Universities at the MUG
9.01.2026
On 7 January 2026, a meeting dedicated to the development of the Translational Brain Diseases Centre of the Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk (TBDC)– an inter-university research structure established in March 2025 within the Fahrenheit Association – took place on the campus of Gdańsk Medical University. The Centre was created with the aim of integrating basic, clinical, and technological research in the field of brain diseases and of effectively translating research findings into medical practice and health prevention.
The meeting was chaired by Prof. Bartosz Karaszewski, Head of the Translational Centre for Brain Diseases of the MUG and of the Adult Neurology Clinic of the MUG. Attendees included representatives of the Fahrenheit Association, the Gdańsk University of Technology, the University of Gdańsk, and the MUG, as well as scientists involved in co‑creating the Centre and researchers interested in collaboration.
Participants included, among others, Prof. Adriana Zaleska‑Medynska, Director of the Fahrenheit Association, Katarzyna Zygmunt, Deputy Director of FarU, Prof. Piotr Stepnowski, Rector of the University of Gdańsk and Chair of the Fahrenheit Association Assembly, Prof. Justyna Kucińska‑Lipka, Vice-Rector for Development at UG, Prof. Mariusz Kaczmarek, Vice-Rector for Education at UG, Prof. Michał Hoffmann, Vice-Rector for Clinical Affairs at the MUG, Prof. Tomasz Bączek, Head of the IDUB Office at the MUG, and Paweł Orłowski, Chair of the MUG University Council. Barbara Toczyńska‑Kijewska, Head of the Health Prevention Unit of the City of Gdańsk, was also in attendance.
The scientific part of the meeting was contributed to by, among others, Prof. Grzegorz Węgrzyn, Head of the Department of Molecular Biology at UG, and Prof. Anna Stanisławska‑Sachadyn from the Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, as well as researchers collaborating with or interested in collaborating with the Centre, including Prof. Jacek Rumiński, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Gdańsk Tech, Prof. R. Tomasz Smoleński, Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the MUG, and Prof. Rafał Dziadziuszko, Head of the Department and Clinic of Oncology and Radiotherapy at the MUG and the Early Phase Clinical Trials Centre.
During the meeting, the strategy for further development of the Translational Centre for Brain Diseases, currently ongoing research projects, and planned research directions were discussed. The results of previous scientific work and formulated research hypotheses were presented, and discussions addressed solutions to broaden the Centre’s scale, strengthen inter‑university collaboration, and streamline organisational practices to facilitate the integration of interdisciplinary research teams. A central format of the Centre’s activity is the utilisation and reconfiguration of the research resources of the Fahrenheit Association’s university teams to address concrete, clinician‑defined “prompts” that specify current, largest diagnostic and therapeutic needs in neurology and related fields, and to further test these within the well‑prepared MUG-UCC database for this purpose.
Participants stressed the importance of the TBDC as a platform that links the scientific, clinical, and technological potential of Tri‑City universities, and its role in the development of modern, interdisciplinary brain disease research and in creating solutions with real public health impact.
