Researchers and industrial experts discussed the most recent scientific findings and possible future directions for further progress at the event titled Biotechnológia a Debreceni Egyetemen – 2025 Szimpózium [Biotechnology at the University of Debrecen – 2025 Symposium]. On Thursday, in the Debrecen Academic Committee Headquarters, participants learned about the latest international trends in addition to the research currently conducted at our institution.
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Dr. Ildikó Horváth, Director of the Pulmonology Clinic and Professor of the University of Debrecen, will be serving for the next three years as Secretary General of the European Respiratory Society (ERS). The new leader was elected last year and she was formally inducted at the most recent conference of this European organization. She will be the first Hungarian professional to hold the high position of Secretary General.
 
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the United States and Shimon Sakaguchi of Japan. In 2023, the Japanese professor's scientific work was recognized with the Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Debrecen. Since the award was established, the professor at Osaka University is the third recipient to receive a Nobel Prize.
 
The most recent graduates from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Debrecen were declared doctors on Friday. There were as many as 147 medical doctors of Hungarian and foreign nationality receiving their diplomas at the ceremony.
 
According to a report presented at the latest annual meeting of Scientific and Social Advisory Board (Tudományos és Társadalmi Tanácsadó Testület - TTTT), during the course of the past year, the University of Debrecen has covered a lot in the fields of education, science, and international collaboration. At the meeting, which was attended by several foreign professors, the members of the council could also hear about the achievements of the University of Debrecen and its objectives for the coming years.
 
What does Client Gate have to do with Tibor Kapu becoming an astronaut? What could have silenced the otherwise rather talkative Shux and Tibor Kapu for six minutes on board the spacecraft named Grace? What does it mean in terms of space travel when a file upload gets stuck? These, among other things, as well as the process of becoming an astronaut and the special professional relationship between them were the topics discussed by research astronaut Kapu and astronaut candidate Gyula Cserényi in the theater hall of the University of Debrecen on Wednesday at an interview conducted by Vice Rector for Academic Affairs László Csernoch.
 
Team Veritas from the University of Debrecen won the international ideas competition OncoTrack Hackathon held between September 11 and 13, where staff members from Innovation Ecosystem Center assisted the Debrecen team on site.
 
The research group headed by Assistant Professor Eszter Csoma has won the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen and the University of Debrecen Publication Award for its scientific article summarizing research findings on polyomaviruses. Regarding the new polyomaviruses that infect both animals and humans, there are still quite a few unanswered questions. The primary focus of the investigation of the researchers was if the viruses are currently present in Hungary, at what age we tend to get infected, and if they infect our respiratory tract.
 
Preliminary research has confirmed that air pollutants in the interior, coming from printers, furniture, and carpets, pose a considerable health risk and may increase the occurrence rate of cancerous growths, for example. In a recent study, experts from the University of Debrecen reviewed and analyzed the latest data available on the concentration of volatile organic pollutants in indoor environments and conducted a quantitative assessment of the related risks. Through this research, their aim is to draw attention to the negative health effects of chemicals found in indoor environments. The researchers published their findings in an international scientific journal and won a Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen and the University of Debrecen Publication Award for their work.
 
Researchers at the University of Debrecen have identified a new regulatory mechanism that determines the functioning of genes. This discovery could also constitute the foundation for a more targeted treatment of pathological conditions such as inflammation and tumors in the long run. These groundbreaking findings have been published in a prestigious international scientific journal, and the research efforts have also been recognized through the publication award granted by the University of Debrecen and Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen.
