PTE inaugurates a new research centre, unique in Europe

The Preclinical Research Centre of the Medical School of the University of Pécs was inaugurated on Wednesday. The project has created a suitable environment for teaching and research activities, and the centre is unique and niche in the region in several respects. The project was implemented with the support of the European Union in the framework of the EFOP tender "Infrastructural Development of the University of Pécs", with a total gross investment of more than HUF 1.2 billion.

Professor Attila Miseta, Rector of the University of Pécs, said at the inauguration ceremony: "The research work carried out in the Preclinical Research Centre can bring us closer to understanding the development of diseases through a better understanding of physiological and pathophysiological phenomena, and also provides an opportunity to test new therapeutic treatments. It is hoped that this state-of-the-art research unit will also foster collaborations with other partners nationwide and abroad," he said.

The establishment of the quality infrastructure requirements and conditions necessary for the teaching and research activities of the Medical School in Pécs has been an endeavour of the faculty for almost two decades," said Professor Miklós Nyitrai, Dean of the Medical School of the University of Pécs, in connection with the project. "During the project, four separate entrance areas with their own air conditioning systems were created. The operating theatre of the new centre is not only equipped with state-of-the-art operating tables, which are essential for postgraduate medical training, but this unique department in Europe also allows the development of operating techniques and materials for surgery. A further department will be dedicated to research into infectious diseases, whose importance has been heightened by the COVID pandemic," the Dean stressed.

Both speakers paid tribute to the recently deceased Professor István Ábrahám, without whose "energy and dynamism this facility could not have been established."

In addition to brain research, which has a long tradition in Pécs, the new centre will also be home to research into a number of other disease models. For example, a special cooling chamber will be used to study temperature regulation processes, which have become increasingly important since the energy crisis.

The new research centre has a total floor area of just over 1260 m2 and is located in the immediate vicinity of the Medical School's Theoretical Block, making it easily accessible for teachers, researchers and students.

The total gross value of the project was HUF 1.259 billion, the contractor was Strabag Építő Kft. For more information about the project, please visit https://projektek.pte.hu/hu/hazai/erfa/efop-421-16-2017-00008.