The project “P4Health: A Center of Excellence for Precision Phenotyping and Biological Data Banking for Personalized Brain Health,” developed by researchers at Łukasiewicz – PORT, has been placed on the ranking list of projects recommended for funding in the International Research Agendas (MAB) FENG program, organized by the Foundation for Polish Science. The recommended level of funding amounts to PLN 34 million.
The project represents the next stage in the development of the P4Health Center, established to advance the medicine of the future and currently implementing a Teaming project under the Horizon Europe program. Unlike previous initiatives carried out under the P4Health brand, the present project is a highly specialized endeavor focused on personalized brain health and brain disorders.
Brain disorders – a growing societal challenge
The project addresses one of the most serious challenges facing modern medicine: the increasing societal burden of neurological and psychiatric disorders, for which effective therapies are still lacking. Population aging and the rising prevalence of mental health problems call for the development of new, more precise diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
The P4Health team proposes a breakthrough research approach by shifting the focus from neurons alone to astrocytes – non-neuronal cells that play a critical role in proper brain function, synaptic regulation, metabolism, and stress responses.
Astrocytes at the core of the research program
As the first center in Europe, the P4Health Center places astrocyte biology at the core of an integrated research and development program combining:
- precision molecular, functional, and behavioral phenotyping,
- biobanking and integration of high-quality biological data,
- system-level validation in advanced models of brain disorders.
The goal of the project is to discover and validate new therapeutic concepts and biomarkers that will enable more effective treatment of conditions such as depression, PTSD, and neurodegenerative diseases, in line with the principles of 4P medicine – predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory.
An international team of researchers building a center of excellence
The project will be carried out by an international team of experienced scientists:
- Prof. Bastian Hengerer – Project Leader, with over 30 years of experience in shaping drug development and biomarker strategies for neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma;
- Dr. Agnieszka Krzyżosiak – expert in protein quality control mechanisms and co-creator of solutions commercialized through biotechnology startups;
- Dr. Michał Ślęzak – developer of innovative methods for studying astrocyte biology and discoverer of new therapeutic targets in depression;
- Dr. Mykhailo Batiuk – recipient of the ERC Starting Grant 2025 and specialist in single-cell molecular profiling of the human brain.
The International Research Agendas (MAB) FENG call 3/2025 was highly selective and addressed exclusively to institutions coordinating consortia that had received funding or a Seal of Excellence in the Horizon Europe Teaming program, and within whose structures centers of excellence – specialized research units – had been established or were planned.
The participation of Łukasiewicz – PORT in this call confirms that the P4Health Center meets the highest international standards of scientific excellence, R&D management, and translational potential.
From R&D to clinical implementation
The results of research conducted within the project “P4Health: A Center of Excellence for Precision Phenotyping and Biological Data Banking for Personalized Brain Health” will be protected by intellectual property rights and prepared for further development through clinical research and appropriate commercialization pathways, opening new perspectives for the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders.
“I am very pleased that the Foundation for Polish Science has granted this funding,” says Prof. Bastian Hengerer, Director of the P4Health Center. ”It allows us to build a cutting-edge research environment and enables us to equip P4H with state-of-the-art scientific devices for conducting competitive, internationally visible research. Most importantly, it enables us to bridge discovery and application – transforming scientific insight into new therapeutic concepts that advance precision medicine and bring real benefits to patients.”
