Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy
The Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wrocław (IITD PAN) was founded in 1952. Its founder and first director was Prof. Ludwik Hirszfeld, a world-renowned serologist, microbiologist, and immunologist.
Areas
biology, medical sciences, medical biology
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The institute’s scientific specialties include: clinical immunology, experimental cancer therapy, glycoimmunology, infection immunology, immunopharmacology, bacteriophage biology and phage therapy, molecular microbiology, cancer immunology, experimental and clinical immunology, transplantology, biochemistry, immunochemistry, biotechnology, microbiology, virology, molecular biology, and anthropology.
The Institute employs approximately 240 people, including over 80 researchers (as of December 2022). The scientific activities of the Hirszfeld Institute are carried out by 23 laboratories or research units. The work is closely linked to the activities of additional units. These include the Medical Center with its globally unique Phage Therapy Center. The Polish Collection of Microorganisms (PCM) is a unique collection of microorganisms, which, as one of two collections in Poland (among 48 worldwide), has been granted the status of International Depositary Authority for patent purposes and is the leader in the number of deposits accepted in Central Europe. The Institute’s commercialization and industry relations are supported by its subsidiary, the Technology Transfer Center IITD PAN Sp. z o.o.
The Institute is authorized to award doctoral degrees (in biological and medical sciences) and postdoctoral degrees (in biological sciences). It educates doctoral students as part of the Doctoral Program and the Wrocław Doctoral School of the Polish Academy of Sciences Institutes, established in cooperation with the Institute of Low Temperature and Structural Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The unit publishes two journals: Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis, which ranked fourth among Polish journals in 2020, and Postępy Higieny i Medycyny Doświadczalnej (Advances in Hygiene and Experimental Medicine). In the parametric evaluation, the IITD PAN received a high scientific category A in the discipline of biological sciences and category A+ in the field of medical sciences. In the SCIMAGO ranking, it has been at the forefront of Polish scientific institutions for years, ranking fifth in Poland in 2021, including third among all institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences.