On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its foundation, the Department of Medical Chemistry of the University of Debrecen held a solemn meeting. At the event, current and former staff as well as the cooperating partners of the institution recalled the most important events of the last decades.
The institute, which has been operating under the same name since 1927, still has a prominent role in education, the number of textbooks and notes written by its staff is exemplary. Medical training is inconceivable without the Department of Medical Chemistry,
– emphasized László Mátyus, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
The organizational unit was initially headed by Géza Dobi, and from 1923 until his death in 1956 by János Bodnár. After that, several temporary directors headed the institute, then from 1958 to 1987 György Bot, and from 1987 to 2012 Pál Gergely filled the position of director.
At the ceremonial meeting organized on the occasion of the jubilee, the first decades of the institute were revived by Professor Emeritus Pál Gergely.
In July 2012, the management of the institute was taken over by the current director, university professor László Virág.
The research areas of the Department of Medical Chemistry are molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and pharmacology. Under the leadership of the professor, new research groups and topics closely related to medicine (cell death, redox signaling, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, tumor biology, inflammation, metabolism, microbiome, vascular permeability, regulation of intestinal motility, advanced induction, mitochondrial dynamics, protea collaborations have been established with clinical research teams.
“We are proud that half of the institute’s eight active research groups are led by young researchers (Péter Bay, Beáta Lontay, Krisztina Tar and Anita Boratkó) who have left our institute and are now successful, ensuring the future prosperity of the institute.”
– said László Virág, professor, director of the institute.
After a historical overview of the last 100 years of the institute, past and present employees revived their experiences and personal experiences at a memorial meeting in honor of the jubilee.
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