Centers of excellence

Scientific Centre of Excellence for Personalized Health Care
(KK.01.1.1.01.0010)

HEAD OF THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE AND RESEARCH UNIT FOR RESEARCH, PRODUCTION AND MEDICAL TESTING OF 
FUNCTIONAL FOODS: Prof. Ines Drenjančević,  MD, PhD  

The Scientific Center of Excellence for Personalized Health Care is an interdisciplinary center of excellence in the field of biotechnical and biomedical sciences established at the University of Osijek. It consists of two scientific units: Scientific unit for glycoscience research led by Prof. Ph.D. Gordan Lauc from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb  Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Zagreb and the Scientific unit for research, production and medical examination of functional food led by Prof. Ph.D. Ines Drenjančević from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Osijek. 

The decision on the proclamation was made on November 6, 2015, and it was founded on December 11, 2015. After two years of preparatory activities and the application of the project, on October 5, 2017, the Agreement on the allocation of grants for projects financed from the European Structural and Investment Funds in the financial period 2014-2020 was signed KK.01.1.1.01.0010 Scientific center of excellence for personalized health care, for a period of 5 years. The project implementation period is from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2022, while the fulfillment of all indicators is expected by 2024. 

The scientific unit for glycoscience research brings together researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry and Natural Sciences, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Srebrnjak Children's Hospital, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital and the company Genos. Research within this scientific unit is aimed at understanding the importance of individual differences in protein glycosylation for disease development, and glycans as biomarkers in personalized medicine. 

The  Scientific unit for research, production and medical examination of functional food  brings together researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences, and the Department of Chemistry of the University of Osijek. Research within this scientific unit is focused on research, production and medical testing of functional food, with the aim of maintaining and improving health through the production and use of food (eggs and chicken) enriched with certain key components. 

The researchers of this scientific unit are the winners of numerous international awards and gold medals for innovations in the field of functional food production and electrochemical sensors for use in biomedicine, agriculture and environmental protection. This Scientific Center of Excellence is conceived as an efficient way of transferring knowledge and competences acquired in biotechnical sciences to basic and applied biomedical research in which the research groups are complementary. One of the examples of synergistic activity between the scientific units of this ZCI is the possibility of analyzing glycan biomarkers in the evaluation of the effects of the application of functional food in healthy subjects and patients. 

As it is an innovative and original approach to food, the work of this center will increase the international scientific and economic competitiveness of our region and thus the whole of Croatia. 

More about ZCI at http://zcipersonhealth.unios.hr/ 

Duration of the project: 1.6.2017 - 1.6.2022.   The Scientific Center of Excellence has signed an Agreement on the extension of its activities until 2025.

Scientific Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience 
(KK.01.1.1.01.0007, CoRE – Neuro)

Scientific center of excellence for basic, clinical and translational neuroscience "Experimental and clinical research of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in perinatal and adulthood"

Head of the MEFOS research group: Prof. Maria Heffer, MD, PhD  

Project leader: Zagreb Faculty of Medicine

Partners: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek, Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Center for Clinical Application of Neuroscience, Polyclinic Neuron, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology, University of Zagreb, Dubrava Clinical Hospital, Vrapče Psychiatry Clinic, Zagreb Medical School.  Members of the MEFOS Department of Medical Biology and Genetics are part of the project team of the Scientific Center of Excellence for Basic Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, based at the Croatian Institute for Brain Research, Šalata 11, Zagreb. 

MEFOS members are part of the project team headed by Prof. Goran Šimić, Ph.D.  and are working on research under the title 'New biomarkers of aging, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia; development of preventive strategies against neurodegeneration.' Gangliosides are a class of membrane lipids that participate in numerous physiological processes such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, signal transduction, cell adhesion and intercellular communication. Gangliosides are especially represented in the nervous system of mammals; some of their specific roles in the brain enable proper axon-glia interactions and participation in the molecular mechanism of learning and memory. Gangliosides are concentrated within membrane microdomains (lipid rafts) and form an appropriate lipid environment essential for proper positioning and functioning of membrane proteins. 

The goal of the project is to explore the presence and nature of specific interactions between lipids and proteins in vitro, to analyze the impact of changes in membrane lipid composition on the expression of membrane proteins of special interest - neuroplastin, which participates in the process of neurodegeneration.

Duration of the project: 11.12.2017. - 10.12.2022.