Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine

The Interdepartmental Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia is one of the oldest research institutions in Poland. Founded in 1938, it was given the name Maritime Medicine Institute. Initially, it was a branch of the National Institute of Hygiene and it became an independent institution after 1939. It was reopened in 1947 and incorporated into the structure of the Medical University of Gdańsk, preserving the outline of research work. In 1957 it became an independent institution and one of the departmental institutes of the Ministry of Health. It was seated in several buildings in the Tri-city (in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz and in Gdynia). In 1985 it was granted a seat in Gdynia-Redłowo, where all the institutes, laboratories and clinics were situated, together with maintenance staff. On October 1st, 2003 it was once again incorporated into the structure of the Medical University of Gdańsk as the Interdepartmental Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine. It extended its academic activity by introducing didactics for students (also in English), PhD students of all the faculties of the Medical University, as well as doctors and other health-care workers who acquire specialization under the tasks and missions at CMKP in Warsaw.

The main area of activity of the Interdepartmental Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine is research and development work in the field of maritime and tropical medicine, hyperbaric medicine, toxicology and environmental protection; legislative activities for the sake of the work code and regulations concerning health-care requirements for workers; diagnostics and treatment in the field of work pathology, maritime pathology, tropical pathology and underwater pathology. In the latest ranking of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the Institute was among the first in the category of research units.

For 56 years the Interdepartmental Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine has been publishing the English science periodical ‘International Maritime Health’ (previously named: Bulletin of Maritime and Tropical Medicine), one of the oldest periodicals in the world in this field.

The Interdepartmental Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine consists of 9 departments (one of which consists of two institutes and one clinic) and clinics. Moreover, there are three national specialized reference centres: the National Hyperbaric Centre, the National Centre for Maritime Medicine and the National Centre for Tropical Medicine, whose workers supervise the St. Lucas Health Centre in Kifangondo in Angola.

Thanks to grants from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, we have been able to modernize the institutes and laboratories, which will allow them to obtain accreditation. We will also be a BSL-3 laboratory (bio-safety level 3), which will facilitate new research and diagnostic work in accordance with UE requirements.

Written by Professor Przemysław Myjak