Balázs Gulyás, President of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, gave a presentation on 11 December at the 2023 Semmelweis Symposium titled 'Celebrating Excellence.' In his presentation, President Gulyás highlighted the importance of collaboration between both domestic and international actors in the biomedical RDI ecosystem, in which, together with Semmelweis University, HUN-REN also aims to take on a leading role in the future.
Balázs Gulyás emphasised that the goal is to transition from the current disease-focused mindset, where university education and research focus on diagnosing and treating diseases, to a healthy PPP (Protection, Prediction, and Prevention) approach. This means we should be able to protect and maintain the good health status of the populations, and extend the healthy lifespan as long as possible. We should also be able to make predictions based on genetic markers, conducive condition markers, and all related predictive markers for forthcoming diseases.
He highlighted that this should be the future of all interests in health research, healthcare research, and biomedical research. This endeavour aligns with the strategic goals set in the John von Neumann Programme announced by the Government of Hungary, in which healthy living is among the top key focus areas to develop along digitisation, circular economy, and security and defence. To be successful in applying the PPP approach, forces must be joined, he explained. He also invited colleagues from Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong and China, to join the efforts of starting a new era in the history of medicine and medical research – that of PPP.
