International Mushroom Summer School IMSS 2022
21-06-2022
The International Mushroom Summer School IMSS 2022 started with a meeting with Professor Sławomir Bakier, Director of the Institute of Forest Sciences at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences. As of Tuesday, the entire International Mushroom Summer School IMSS2022 is moving to the Science and Research Centre in Hajnówka, where all lectures and the practical part will be carried out.
– We are hosting Professor Jordan Zjawiony from the University of Mississippi, who will talk about research on psychoactive mushrooms – announces Ewa Zapora, PhD. – Professor Maja Karaman from the University of Novi Sad will present information on new innovative biomaterials of fungal origin. Professor Omoanghe Isikhuemhen from North Carolina A&T State University will explain how mushrooms can be a dietary supplement for animals. Professor Lusine Margaryan from Armenia will talk about the protection of macroscopic fungi, i.e. fungi visible to the naked eye, and the medicinal properties of these fungi from an Armenian perspective.
– When I was once in Białystok, I said that I cannot imagine how it is possible to have a university in Białystok, or near such a unique environment and a forest so rich in mushrooms as the Białowieża Forest, and not deal with it scientifically, it would be like sitting on a pile of gold but never reaching for it – said Professor Jordan Zjawiony at the first joint meeting of lecturers and students of the International Summer School of Mushrooms – I am very impressed that so many young people from all over the world want to take part in our meetings. I will be happy to guide them on the right track if they are interested in mushrooms.
Professor Jordan Zjawiony can also be regarded as the godfather of the great success of the scientists from Podlasie, from Bialystok University of Technology working together with the Medical University of Bialystok.
– The fact that the scientists from Podlasie obtained a patent for the extract from Heterobasidion annosum and a pharmaceutical composition containing extract from Heterobasidion annosum was great news for me! – said prof. Zjawiony
Because it turned out that Heterobasidion annosum extract can be an active ingredient in an anticancer drug, which has the advantage of reducing the viability of colon cancer cells with low toxicity to healthy cells.
– This is the first step and we should now see what chemical compounds are responsible for such an effect – suggests Prof. Zjawiony – Or maybe we could use chemical methods to modify and minimise the toxicity of this fungus? We should check the effect of the same extracts on other tumours and only then concentrate the research on selected organisms.
One of the activities of the International Mushroom Summer School in the Science and Research Centre in Hajnówka will be a presentation of how the Fungi Extract Bank – a unique collection of mushroom extracts created at Bialystok University of Technology – functions and conducts research.
The following activities are planned within the International Mushroom Summer School IMSS 2022:
– practical field classes in the Białowieża Forest
– laboratory classes in the Centre for Science and Research of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences in Hajnówka
IMSS 2022 will be held in cooperation with the Regional Directorate of National Forests in Białystok, in particular the Forest Districts: Hajnówka, Białowieża and Browsk and the Białowieża National Park.
Coordinator of the project: Ewa Zapora, PhD
Organisers: Marek Wołkowycki, Eugene Yurchanka, PhD, Marcin Stocki, PhD, Urszula Waszczuk, MSc, Sylwia Lewsza, MSc, Konrad Wilamowski
International Mushroom Summer School 2022
IMSS2022_Programme_Final (PDF, digitally accessible, 369 KB)
