Three Nobel Prize-winning researchers are joining the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting (CMF), led by Nobel Prize-winning physicist

Ferenc Krausz: cell biologist Randy Schekman, pharmacologist Louis J. Ignarro, and optical physicist Donna Strickland. With their appointment, the Board will now include four Nobel Laureates. Coinciding with the announcement, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry and Hungary’s State Secretary for Science and Innovation jointly visited CMF’s laser laboratory and biobank in Szeged.

The international, multidisciplinary advisory board supports the Budapest-based research institute and its research and development program, which aims to enable earlier disease detection through strategic insights and innovative proposals and to support preventive, personalised medicine.

Regarding his appointment, Louis J. Ignarro said: Earlier disease detection, early intervention, and therefore prevention represent the logical path to follow. Although I am very excited about the possibility of detecting changes in health earlier, doing so will require that we ‘think outside the box.’ I’m looking forward to serving on the board, where many new ideas are likely to erupt.

A short video with Professor Chu, a returning member of the board, can be found here, in which he highlighted: It’s really the changes in a particular individual that are more significant. You don’t need to wait until the change is outside the group’s norm anymore. It gives you an earlier window. It’s a new technology; it’s a powerful one, and it has the potential to change healthcare diagnostics and prognosis. If you catch disease early, you’re in the best position to be treated.

On the day of the announcement, Hong Kong Secretary Sun Dong and State Secretary Péter Horváth visited the CMF’s laser laboratory and biobank in Szeged. The Hong Kong delegation visited the laser and bio laboratory. Sun Dong praised „the state-of-the-art technology and CMF’s truly personalised approach, which could be the answer to the biggest challenges in modern medicine”.

Krausz highlighted that the cooperation established with the University of Hong Kong has significantly contributed to the international expansion of the research. Secretary Sun Dong said that „they were honored that one of the project’s key stages would take place in Hong Kong”. At the meeting, Péter Horváth, State Secretary for Science Policy and Innovation, emphasized that Hungary was fortunate that the research had begun several years ago and that the researchers would soon be able to analyze concrete data. If these data confirm the expectations, he said, they are firmly committed to continuing and expanding the project.

Laser physics could hold the key to the early detection of many diseases – What is CMF’s research about?

The team at the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting is developing a diagnostic method that could make it possible to detect certain serious diseases – such as diabetes and various types of cancer – before symptoms appear. Current healthcare systems primarily focus on treating diseases. CMF’s vision, however, is to promote preventive, proactive healthcare. If a disease can be detected at a very early stage, there may still be an opportunity to make lifestyle changes, undergo more regular monitoring, or receive targeted treatment.

Proactive healthcare could benefit not only individuals but society as a whole. It could reduce the burden and costs on healthcare systems and, in the long term, develop such a diagnostic tool that could help create healthier, more active, and more economically resilient societies.