Young Talents from USK

Dr. Agnieszka Tusznicka-Pawlak and Dr. Damian Arabasz from the University Clinical Hospital in Wrocław received awards in the “Young Talents in Internal Medicine World Contest 2026.” The case presented by Dr. Damian Arabasz also qualified for the Grand Final featuring the 30 best clinical case reports submitted by young physicians (up to 35 years old) from around the world. Wroclaw Medical University was a co-executive partner of the 11th edition of the McMaster International Review Conference of Internal Medicine (MIRCIM) — a prestigious event dedicated to physicians and medical students from all over the world.

The paper How many drops of blood are needed to determine that the patient has crumpled paper in the liver?, presented by Dr. Damian Arabasz from the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Internal Diseases at the University Clinical Hospital, achieved significant success — it was selected from among 147 case reports submitted from over 60 countries and advanced to the group of 30 best presentations qualified for the Grand Final of the competition. Although Dr. Damian Arabasz ultimately did not place on the podium in the Grand Final, qualifying among the best presentations was itself a major achievement and a prestigious distinction. Only three representatives from Poland reached this stage.

In addition, the paper won second place in the “Gastroenterology” category of the “Young Talents in Internal Medicine World Contest 2026.” It concerned an extremely rare and complex case of a 27-year-old patient admitted to the clinic with severe jaundice and symptoms suggesting developing liver failure. Despite extensive diagnostics — including imaging studies, endoscopic examinations, and numerous specialist consultations — for a long time it was impossible to determine the cause of the patient’s rapidly deteriorating condition.

“The patient’s condition was so serious that a liver biopsy and liver dialysis were necessary to reduce toxic bilirubin levels. Ultimately, thanks to cooperation between physicians from various specialties and support from the Department of Pathomorphology headed by Prof. Agnieszka Hałoń, we managed to diagnose a very rare genetic disease — Gaucher disease — which is usually diagnosed in children, but in this patient remained latent until the age of 27. We had to think outside standard diagnostic frameworks and reach for increasingly rare causes of disease. It was a case that required enormous teamwork and an interdisciplinary approach. After the implementation of modern enzyme replacement therapy, the patient’s condition improved significantly, and after several months the patient recovered,” explained Dr. Damian Arabasz.

Dr. Agnieszka Tusznicka-Pawlak from the Department of Diabetology, Arterial Hypertension and Internal Diseases at the University Clinical Hospital, who presented the paper Too tall, too young, too hypertensive – Abraham Lincoln’s disease in a 19-year-old patient. When should we suspect Marfan syndrome?, also achieved a podium finish in the “Cardiology” category of the “Young Talents in Internal Medicine World Contest 2026.” The awarded abstract concerned the diagnosis of Marfan syndrome in a 19-year-old patient with arterial hypertension, dilation of the aortic root, and features suggesting connective tissue disease. The authors highlighted symptoms that should prompt deeper diagnostics in a young patient, including tall stature, chest deformity, joint hypermobility, and a family history of aortic disease. The paper emphasized the importance of genetic testing in confirming the diagnosis and the role of early diagnosis in reducing the risk of serious cardiovascular complications.

Dr. Bohdana Halunka from the Department of Rheumatology and Internal Diseases at the University Clinical Hospital also took part in the competition, presenting the paper Sudden vision disturbances with ANCA antibodies – is it always systemic vasculitis?

MIRCIM 2026

Since 2018, the competition has accompanied the McMaster International Review Conference of Internal Medicine 2026 — a prestigious international educational conference dedicated to physicians and medical students. This year’s edition took place on May 7–9 at the ICE Congress Centre in Kraków.

MIRCIM is the only event of its kind in Poland and a unique international gathering, organized since 2015. The MIRCIM 2026 program included 11 clinical sessions with participation from more than 60 world-class experts, including authors of international clinical guidelines. The conference presented current medical knowledge based on reliable scientific evidence directly applicable to everyday clinical practice. The event was also highly valuable for specialists in narrower fields of internal medicine, featuring four extensive sessions devoted to cardiology, rheumatology, nephrology, and diabetology.

AIMed 2026

Held alongside MIRCIM was AIMed 2026 — a three-day conference devoted to various aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, organized in cooperation with experts from the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, McMaster University in Canada, and the Jagiellonian University Medical College.

The event was aimed at a broad audience involved in AI, including both developers of AI tools and their users from medical, scientific, and technological communities. Policymakers responsible for regulatory and ethical aspects, including those from the European Union, also spoke during the conference.

A novelty during this year’s edition was the open call for abstracts (MIRCIM open call for abstracts), covering original studies, meta-analyses, and case series. Authors of accepted submissions presented their work in poster format during the conference. The papers were also published in the book of abstracts.

The organizers of MIRCIM 2026 were the Polish Institute of Evidence Based Medicine and McMaster University in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University Medical College.

Among the co-executive partners of the event was Wroclaw Medical University. As in the previous year, the university actively participated in the conference through co-hosting scientific sessions, participation in the Young Talents competition jury, and funding prizes in the competition through the Wroclaw Medical University Foundation.

The Wroclaw Medical University Technology Transfer Center, together with Animativ Health, presented their joint technology offerings (Custom Med, Kid AID). In addition, one hundred representatives of the university were granted free participation in the event — both onsite and online.

Photo: Organizers’ materials / Krzysztof Proć / UMW