Łukasiewicz – Polish Center for Technology Development

Łukasiewicz – PORT (https://port.lukasiewicz.gov.pl/en/) is part of the Łukasiewicz Research Network, the third-largest research network in Europe, connecting over 26 institutes from all over Poland. The research activity of Łukasiewicz – PORT is based on three centers: Materials Science, Life Sciences & Biotechnology, and Population Diagnostics. Research Groups as well as specialized and measurement laboratories operate within these units. Each center can focus on selected scientific and technological issues and comprehensively carry out research work and pilot research for industry. 

The Life Sciences & Biotechnology Center is a modern institution with a research, development, and implementation profile. It focuses on significant non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and develops competencies in neurobiology, oncology, biotechnology and biobanking. Its research teams deal with important research topics and collaborate with other research institutes, as well as provide services to external clients. Within the Center, the Biobank Research Group Biobank – PORT (lukasiewicz.gov.pl) is one of the few groups in Poland with a Biobank Unit within its structure and is the National Leading Centre for biobanking. It also acts as a national node in the European Network of Biobanking and Molecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI-ERIC) in EU Countries. 

The Center for Population Diagnostics is the first of its kind in Poland. It aims to conduct research in the field of modern diagnostic methods for many infectious diseases (e.g. AH1N1, SARS) and NCDs (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and obesity). The Center for Population Diagnostics significantly contributes to increasing the biomedical safety of  society and enables immediate action in the event of an epidemiological threat. The Center will include the BSL-3 standard epidemiological rapid response laboratory – the first in western Poland and one of only a few in the whole country. It will be characterized by one of the highest classes of biosafety, giving the possibility to work with microorganisms from various risk groups. 

Apart from its research activity, Łukasiewicz – PORT successfully applies for grants from various financing sources, both as an independent applicant and member of larger consortia or a subcontractor in implementation projects. Łukasiewicz – PORT is currently a coordinator for the Horizon Europe Widera project (HE Twinning project: SAME-NeuroID) with partners from France, Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, Łukasiewicz-Port supports its clients in developing and increasing competitiveness through technology transfer and innovation management.

Role of institution in the project

Łukasiewicz–PORT (will be involved in WP7) where can: contribute to the bench mark validation of systems and joint scientific projects; assess platform performance and provide feedback; perform additional tests, validate and monitor digital pathology systems in collaboration with labs worldwide by setting up small case studies; provide expertise in quality assessment of digital images, tissue sections and biomarker; provide expertise in visual QC assessment of data quality from classic pathological assessment vs data generated by AI; share expertise in developing research scoring systems for HEs and molecular biomarkers; validate digital pathology management systems for research and clinical trials environment.