Predictive, Preventive, and Personalised Medicine: From Bench to Bedside

Prof. Dr. D.Sc. Eng. M.D. Halina Podbielska is Professor Ordinarius in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST). She received her M.Sc. and Engineering Degree in Applied Physics/Optics from the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology of Wroclaw University of Technology WrUT (now WUST)and her Ph.D. degree in Physics from the Institute of Physics, both awarded by a special Award for Excellence. She also received her M.D. degree from the Faculty of Medicine of Medical Academy Wroclaw (now Medical University). She completed her post-graduate study in business and management at the Faculty of Informatics and Managing conducted by the Central State University of Connecticut/USA.

Halina was a founder of the Biomedical Engineering Institute at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology WruST in 2007, and served for years as a Director and the Head of the Biomedical Engineering Department. Additionally, in years 2007-2014 she was appointed as a full professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the Faculty of Physiotherapy of the Wroclaw University School of Physical Education for teaching students of Physiotherapy and Cosmetology on modern aspects of physical medicine with special emphasis on modern aspects of biophotoelectronics and personalized medicine. She was visiting scientist in several scientific institutions worldwide: at the University of Frankfurt/Main (1984-85), University of Muenster (1985-86) as an A. v. Humboldt Foundation fellow, and at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel (1989-1990).

In years 2002-2005 she was a visiting professor at the Institute of Optics of Technical University in Berlin. She was also visiting scientist at the Charite Medizin University of Berlin (2005) conducting research at the Medical Laser Technology Center LMTB, Germany. Her professional experiences include biomedical engineering with emphasis on medical application of optics, nanomaterials and physical and personalized medicine. She is an author or co-author of over 400 publications and holds 13 registered patents related to biomedical technologies and personalized approaches. She is a Board Member of Polish Society of Biomedical Engineering and member of many internationally recognized bodies (OSA, SPIE, OWLS, EPMA). She holds a distinction of OSA Senior Member. She is a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering of Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw and a member of The Committee of Biocybernetics Biomedical Engineering of Polish Academy of Science and Member of Board of the International Centre For Biocybernetics, Warsaw. She is a member of Editorial Board of the Journal Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering. She is/was acting as an expert for grant evaluation in 6. and 7. Framework Program and Horizon2020 of EC and grants reviewer of National Institutes of Health, USA, Ministry of Science, Latvia and Polish authorities.

From 2008 she a member of the Academic Advisory Board and Representative of Biomedical Engineering of EPMA (European Association for Predictive, Preventive and Personalized Medicine) and Editorial Board member of EPMA Journal. In 2021 she received a prestigious EPMA Highest Recognition of Exceptional Achievements in International Networking in the field of biomedical sciences.

Marko Kapalla graduated in 1994 at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, where he received MSc degree in Biochemistry. In 1996 he wrote a scientific philosophical book "Complexity of Information" where he discusses a wide range of stimulating topics related to science, philosophy, physics, information, entropy, life phenomenon, consciousness, universe, and other topics. In 1999 his book was published by Veda, the publishing house of Slovak Academy of Sciences. In 2014, he presented and defended, in the field of Normal and Pathological Physiology, his dissertation on "The Role of Laboratory Diagnostics and Modern Information Systems in the Development of the Concept of Predictive, Preventive and Personalized Medicine" which became the pioneering work on predictive, preventive and personalized medicine (PPPM) awarded by PhD at the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He acquired practical experience in the advanced techniques of molecular biology during his study at the University of Vienna, Austria, as well as during his study stays at the University Hospital Bonn, Germany. Since 1998, he works in the field of clinical laboratory diagnostics where he acquired his professional experience and expertise at several positions as specialized clinical biochemist, head of the clinical laboratory, manager for consolidation and integration of the clinical laboratory complex at the FDRH University Hospital in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, and the corporate quality manager in one of the largest network of accredited clinical laboratories in Slovakia. Since 2007 he is also a CEO of Negentropic Systems, Ltd., the company that is developing progressive laboratory information systems. Since 2018 he is a CEO of PPPM Centre, Ltd., the private company that was founded in Slovakia in order to fulfil EPMA visions of practical application of PPPM. Since 1997 he is member of Slovak Society of Clinical Biochemistry from 2015 to 2019 he was also a member of the Executive board of SSKB. In 2008 he became one of five founding members of the European Association for Predictive, Preventive and Personalized Medicine (EPMA) and since then he is member of the EPMA Board of Directors as well as EPMA National Representative in Slovakia. Since 2022 he is EPMA Vice-president for European Affairs. He is also an Associate editor of The EPMA Journal (IF (2021) 8.836 by Clarivate; CiteScoreTracker(2022) 11.2 by Scopus) and a regular reviewer for The EPMA Journal with well over 100 reviewed articles 69 of which are peer reviews verified by Clarivate.

He authored and co-authored over 65 publications and scientific contributions, including one book and five book chapters, and gave over 45 invited lectures at numerous international and national conferences on laboratory diagnostics and predictive, preventive and personalized medicine. His professional interests are mainly focused on PPPM, clinical laboratory diagnostics, vitamins, nutrition, innovation in healthcare, complex factors influencing health, clinical data analyzing and development of clinical information systems and information technology in healthcare.