Research platforms and fields

Research platforms

Medicine

The Medicine Platform is the coordination body that focuses RSU resources to conduct excellent research and develop methods of diagnosis and treatment of most the prevalent diseases in EU.

Vision: to be a leading medical and health education and research center in the Baltic region that conducts excellent internationally recognised research with high social impact.

Main research directions:

• General medicine;
• Dentistry (including, oral and maxillofacial surgery);
• Pharmacy.

Goal: to provide indispensable expertise, scientific and technical support to its stakeholders, both nationally and internationally.

Public Health

The Public Health Platform is a public and environmental health science coordination body that consolidates RSU resources to conduct excellent research and facilitate effective health promotion, health care organisation and occupation environment improvement in Latvia.

Vision: to be a leading education, public and environmental health research center in the Baltic region that works in close cooperation with its partner research institutions and clinics nationally and internationally. 

Main research directions:

• Disease prevention and health promotion;
• Health systems;
• Environmental and occupational health.

Goal: to provide indispensable expertise, scientific and technical support to its stakeholders nationally and internationally.

Social Sciences

Vision: to become a leading education and research center in Northern Europe in Eurasian regional studies of international relations, strategic communication, as well as legal and political consequences of digital economy and artificial intelligence, and start-up expertise.

Main research directions:

• International relations and comparative politics;
• International business and economic development;
• International and national legal systems and law;
• Strategic communication and social anthropology.

Goal: to focus RSU resources to conduct excellent research and provide internationally recognised expertise and scientific recommendations to stakeholders nationally and internationally.

Main fields of research

Oncology

• Molecular epidemiology of breast cancer,  molecular epidemiology of hereditary breast cancer
• Identification of clinically applicable markers of therapeutic efficiency in breast and colorectal cancer
• Proteomic analysis of cancer metastasis
• A multimodal information platform for the integration of  visual diagnostics data, pathology and biomarkers, creation of a next-generation cancer registry in cooperation with the bioinformatics ESFRI platform ELIXIR
• Cancer theranostics
• PET for detection and therapy control
• Oncogenesis in primary tumours through the application of new research technologies
• Cancer biology: tumour heterogeneity,  cancer stem cells

Occupational and environmental health

• Impact assessment of professional and environmental sprays and nanoparticles (chemical, biological, dust, including nano)
• Indoor air quality
• Environmental impacts on ageing and work ability
• Human biomonitoring
• Ergonomics, behaviour and economics

Infectious diseases and immunology

• Identification of the presence of beta-herpesviruses HHV-6 and HHV-7 in the development of encephalopathy, encephalitis and epilepsy through a multidisciplinary approach
• Chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR2 as potential diagnostic markers of B-cell malignancy progression
• Involvement of persistent viral infections in modulation of immune response and development of autoimmune diseases
• Skin conditions caused by infectious and autoimmune diseases and immunodeficiency disorders.
• The role of beta-herpesviruses (HHV-6A, HHV-6B, HHV-7) and parvovirus B19 in the development of fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
• Human bocavirus (HBoV) epidemiology, pathogenicity and possible correlation with lower respiratory tract diseases and acute gastroenteritis in children

 

Developing fields of research

• Dosage form technologies (pharmacy)
• Rehabilitation and ageing, nutrition science and sports medicine
• Maternal and child health
• Neuroscience and neurological disorders
• Chronic diseases, therapy algorithms, new treatment methods
• Nuclear medicine, imaging and modern imaging techniques
• Humanities (philosophy of medicine, medical ethics, deontology, bioethics, research ethics, medical history, medical terminology)
• Literary studies of human health, lifestyle and medical achievements  

Cross-disciplinary fields of research

• Anatomy, embryology, histology, pathology, structural biology
• Anaesthesiology and rheumatology, emergency and military medicine
• Healthcare sciences
• Public health
• Social policy, health economics, management science, teaching technologies in health sectors