PORT OPEN TO COOPERATION WITH VIRGINIA

From October 15th to 18th 2018 PORT Polish Center for Technology Development was taking part in the Polish-Virginia Business, Science & Innovation Summit, organized in American city of Richmond (capital of Virginia). Part of this event, the goal of which was to promote innovative Poland and cooperation of scientific communities of both countries, was the “Why Poland, Why Virginia” panel discussion as a part of the 70th Virginia Conference on World Trade.

The summit was organized by Alliance for Innovation (AFI), a Polish-American Foundation. – The foundation’s mission is the integration and connection of Polish and American partners, aimed at developing practical cooperation, innovative projects in the fields of science, business and culture on the state level, which gives a chance for a fast application – emphasized prof. Michael Czekajlo, co-chair of the foundation. Among the Polish participants, apart from the representation of PORT, were the representatives of: The National Centre for Research and Development, Ministry of Health, National Health Fund, Medical University of Gdańsk, the Lazarski University, the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Pricing, the National Development Council, the Oncology Center – Maria Skłodowska Curie Institute in Warsaw and the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center. Virginia was represented by: Ralph Northam – Governor of Virginia and such institutions and companies as: Virginia Commonwealth University, Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Hospital, Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Virginia Economic Development, Virginia Biotech Park, Virginia Bio.

During the summit, a particularly important event was the “Why Poland, Why Virginia” panel, as a part of the 70th Virginia Conference on World Trade. The goal of the panel was to present the arguments supporting the attractiveness of the cooperation of public and private entities from Poland and Virginia in the field of research, technology development and business. PORT, represented by dr Elżbieta Piątkowska (Acting Director of the Research and Development Department) and Anna Gajdanowicz (Director of Office of the Virtual Research Institute Program), built relations with numerous representatives of institutions operating in Virginia. PORT also presented a spectrum of its bio- and nanotechnological actions and a model of functioning of the Virtual Research Institute. – The most important for us was to establish cooperation with American partners. We’ve discussed our common ground with the representatives of universities and R&D centers – Elżbieta Piątkowska comments. – We are happy with the emerging seeds of common projects.

The program of the summit encompassed a whole series of events, including meetings with the representatives of local scientific institutions, e.g. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) or a visit at the Center for Simulation in Richmond. There was an exceptional character to such events as: the gala opening of the summit combined with the establishing of the Kościuszko and Pułaski Day in Virginia, as well as the summarizing meeting on Capiton Hill, hosted by Dan Mica, member of the AFI’s Executive Board, a former American congressman.

During the summit the cooperation starting documents were signed by a few entities: Medical University of Gdańsk and the Lazarski University in Warsaw together with the Virginia Commonwealth University will conduct research into the treatment of post-operative pain with opioids, while the Oncology Center – Maria Skłodowska Curie Institute in Warsaw, the Medical University of Gdańsk and the VCU Massey Cancer Center will launch the joint actions in the field of oncology.

More information:
– summary of the summit on the AFI’s website: http://allianceforinnovation.org.pl/en/summary-polish-virginia-business-innovation-summit/
– website of the 70th Virginia Conference on World Trade: https://www.vachamber.com/event/70th-virginia-conference-on-world-trade/