Advancing Biomedical Science: Host–Pathogen Interaction Center Inaugurated at the University of Szeged with Support from Alumna and Nobel Laureate Katalin Karikó

According to current estimates, more than one billion people around the world are affected by fungal infections, which claim over 1.5 million lives each year. One of the main reasons for this alarming impact lies in the vast diversity and evolutionary distance among fungal pathogens, which present a major challenge to effective treatment and make the development of broad-spectrum therapies particularly difficult.

Operating within the University of Szeged’s Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation (IKIKK), the newly established Host–Pathogen Interaction Center enables comprehensive, coordinated research into fungal infections – with particular emphasis on species that pose a direct threat to human health. Researchers at the facility will primarily focus on developing mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutic strategies for use in clinical care. These innovations are intended to protect patients in intensive care units from life-threatening fungal infections and to provide effective treatment for tens of thousands of women affected by gynecological conditions caused by Candida fungi.

The new facility, made possible by an investment of nearly 200 million forints, was inaugurated in the presence of the leadership and staff of the University of Szeged and the new center, as well as Katalin Karikó and several internationally renowned experts in the field. Among the distinguished guests were Mihai Netea, recently awarded the title of honorary doctor by the University of Szeged and professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands; Norbert Pardi, researcher at the University of Pennsylvania; Maria de Lourdes Oliveira, representing the Fiocruz Foundation; and Philippe Bastin from the Pasteur Institute.

The research infrastructure of the Host–Pathogen Interaction Center is well suited for the comprehensive preclinical testing of promising antimicrobial agents. It also acts as a catalyst for collaboration – both within the university and with external partners – particularly when high-quality in vivo studies are required before launching clinical trials. This makes it possible to carry out full preclinical assessment of compounds, up to the point at which Phase I clinical trials involving healthy human volunteers may be initiated.