10 A niversary of IIMCB

Other consortial projects
coordinated at IIMCB
Molecular haematology project
The 2008 was a third year of running of the ministerial
commissioned project Advanced molecular methods in
haematology. Work out and implementation of standards
of minimal residual disease, posttransplant chimerism and
marker translocations analysis. The project with the overall
budget of about 3 mln PLN links elements of pediatric and
adult molecular haematology related to basic research and
practical applications. The consortium is composed of the
major Polish centers of molecular haematology in Poznań,
Warszawa, Kraków, Lublin and Zabrze what constitutes the
core of a future reference laboratories network active in this
area in Poland. Haematological disorders selected for the
study by the consortium are: pediatric acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (ALL), pediatric and adult acute myeloid leukemia
(AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and non-Hodgkin
lymphomas (NHL); they were chosen as model disorders
being already analysed on a molecular level in some of the
Polish centers. A posttransplant chimerism and a minimal
residual disease (MRD) are being analysed in connection
to the disorders listed above. The project also aims at
constructing the database linking available clinical and
molecular data of patients recruited to the program and
also on establishing the multicenter collection of relevant
biological material. The program was initiated at IIMCB and
is being conducted by Prof. Michał Witt and coordinated by
Dr. Małgorzata Mossakowska.
Currently a monography book “Molecular haematology”
edited by M. Witt, T. Szczepański and M. Dawidowska is
being completed as one of final results of the project.
14 Annual Report 2008
PolSenior project
The IIMCB was one of the major initiators of multidisciplinary
projects on ageing and is currently a coordinator of the
ministerial commissioned project “Medical, psychological
and economical aspects of ageing in Poland”. The country’s
largest project in this area of research, with a budget of over
12 million PLN, aims to conduct an interdisciplinary study
of various ageing-related problems encompassing diverse
research disciplines concerning the ageing process in the
Polish society. About 6,000 patients will participate in a survey
and over 1,500 patients in eight regions will be examined by
geriatricians within the framework of this project. Biological
material (a DNA bank) will be deposited at the IIMCB, and
our Institute will also provide the whole consortium with a
database of the assembled tests results. Four sub-projects are
focussed on large-scale epidemiological studies, while two are
examining physical and architectural barriers for the elderly
population. Specialists involved range from sociologists,
psychologists, economists and demographers to geriatricians,
cardiologists, nephrologists, neurologists, epidemiologists
and molecular biologists from major research centers of
Katowice, Kraków, Wrocław, and Warszawa. The final target is
an ultimate definition of the needs of the ageing population
in terms which are usable in social policy, administrative
care, etc. to shape future decision-making in this area. The
need to ensure geriatric medicine training for physicians
in primary care is being emphasized within the project.
The project is being conducted by the International Institute
of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw with Prof. Piotr
Błędowski (President of Polish Gerontological Society) as
head of the project and Dr. Małgorzata Mossakowska as
coordinator.