On 8–9 September 2025, the Nencki Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences hosted the annual reporting meeting of the international PAS GRAS consortium, funded by the European Commission under the HORIZON – Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) program.

The event was an important milestone in the implementation of the project, which aims to better understand the metabolic, environmental, and behavioral determinants of obesity in children, adolescents, and young adults, and to develop strategies that will reduce the risk of obesity and help prevent related diseases later in life.

During the meeting, representatives of research groups from universities and scientific institutions belonging to the consortium presented their progress, shared insights, and discussed the next steps. Among the speakers were Paulo Oliveira from the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Jan Eriksson and Maria João Pereira from Uppsala University (Sweden), Mariusz Więckowski from the Nencki Institute PAS (Poland), Anabela Marisa Azul from the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Piero Portincasa from the University of Bari Aldo Moro (Italy) and Bruna Moreira from the Federal University of ABC (Brazil).

Nencki Institute is the only Polish member of the PAS GRAS consortium and participates in the project through three research teams led by:

• Prof. Mariusz Więckowski (Laboratory of Mitochondrial Biology and Metabolism) - coordinator of PAS GRAS activities in Poland
• Prof. Agnieszka Dobrzyn (Laboratory of Cell Signaling and Metabolic Disorders),
• Dr. Grzegorz Sumara (Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases).

We are delighted to have hosted this year’s meeting at the Nencki Institute. The next PAS GRAS meeting will take place in Bari, Italy.

The PAS GRAS consortium brings together 11 European Universities and Research Institutions, as well as non-academic partners: European Society for Clinical Investigation (Holand); Portuguese Diabetes Association (APDP); civil association AGDCentro Gymnastics Association (Portugal) and biomedical company Mediagnost GmbH (Germany).

PAS GRAS is one of the 6 projects funded under UE Horizon RIA Program, budget of the PAS GRAS project – 9,5 mln EUR.