Postgraduate Program for Bio-Behavioral Integrative Medicine (UBBMed)
Vision & Mission: To use a complex bio-psycho-social model, based on personalized and evidence-based frameworks, in the context of big data approaches, to guide research, training (postgraduate / continuous education), and applications in human health.
General Structure: At this moment, the Program works as a framework for three clinical-research sections in the Program: (1) Mental Health; (2) (more)General and/or (more)Systemic-Transversal (areas in) Medicine (e.g., Oncology/Cancer, Internal Medicine, Psychosomatics etc.); and (3) Public Health. A Biomedical Engineering / Technology section is also developed within the program, important in itself and as a support for the three clinical sections. There are also two transversal sections: (1) Big Data & Bioinformatics and (2) BioMedical Ethics/Social Medicine & Health. A Miscellaneous section includes aspects that are more specific and/or in an incipient phase of development.
- Strategic coordinator: The Executive Board of the UBB Council of Administration
- Executive responsible: Professor, MD, PhD, Răzvan Cherecheș
- Address: No. 9 Clinicilor St., Cluj-Napoca; Contact: razvan.m.chereches@gmail.com
Section I: Psychology & Psychiatry - Mental Health (UBBMed-Psy)
Coordinators: Professor, PhD, Anca Dobrean (psychology) & Adjunct Researcher, MD, PhD, Andreea Robe (psychiatry)
- Contact: ancadobrean@psychology.ro
Board of the Section
- The Board, composed of psychologists and psychiatrists proposed by the coordinators, will be the main decision body of the Section.
Major Academic Units
- BrainQ Institute
- 3 and 7 Tesla MRI technologies for humans
- 7 and 11,6 Tesla MRI technologies for animal and tissue studies
- International Institute for Psychotherapy
- State of the art virtual/mixed realities and EEG technologies
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit
- One BSc program (i.e., cognitive science) and three MSc programs (i.e., clinical psychology / psychotherapy / clinical public health psychology) are associated to the Section, together with specific doctoral research.
Major Clinical Units
Section II: (more)General and/or (more)Systemic-Transversal (areas in) Medicine (e.g., Oncology/Cancer, Internal Medicine, Psychosomatics etc.) (UBBMed-G)
Coordinators: Professor, PhD, Manuela Banciu (biology) & Researcher, MD, PhD, Cristina Pojoga (medicine – internal medicine / gastroenterology)
- Contact: manuela.banciu@ubbcluj.ro or cristina.pojoga@ubbcluj.ro
Board of the Section
- The Board, composed of specialists proposed by the coordinators, will be the main decision body of the Section.
Major Academic Units
Major Clinical Units
- Partners - Public/private hospitals – clinical units
Section III – Public Health & Policy (UBBMed-PublicH
)
Coordinator: Professor, MD, PhD, Marius Ungureanu (public health)
- Contact: marius.ungureanu@ubbcluj.ro
Board of the Section
- The Board, composed of medical and non-medical specialists proposed by the coordinator, will be the main decision body of the Section.
Major Academic Units
Major Clinical Units
- Partners - Public/private hospitals – clinical units
Section IV – Biomedical Engineering / Technology (UBBMed-Tech)
- Coordinators: Professor, PhD, Lucian Baia (physics-engineering) & Professor, PhD, Gilbert Gillich (engineering)
- Contact: lucian.baia@ubbcluj.ro / gilbert.gillich@ubbcluj.ro
- Medical physics (Associate professor, PhD, Balint Zoltan)
- Clinical-medicinal chemistry (Professor PhD, Gabriela Nemeș & Professor, PhD, Radu Silaghi-Dumitrescu/)
- Clinical biology - laboratories (Senior assistant professor, PhD, Alina Sesărman)
- Kinetotherapy (Professor, PhD, Dumitru Rareș Ciocoi-Pop)
- BSc/MSc programs and specific doctoral research are associated to the Section.
Section V – Transversal Approaches (UBBMed-T)
V.1. Big Data & Bioinformatics
- Coordinators: Professor, PhD, Anca Andreica (computer science) and Professor, PhD, Horia Banciu (bioinformatics/biostatistics)
- Contacts: anca.andreica@ubbcluj.ro or horia.banciu@ubbcluj.ro
- UBB Supercomputer and its associated master program co-created with the German company Bosch
- BSc/MSc programs (e.g., MSc in Bioinformatics) and specific doctoral research are associated to the Section.
V.2. Biomedical Ethics/Social Medicine & Health
- Coordinator: Associate professor, PhD, Dégi László Csaba (social work/sociology) – President of European Cancer Organisation-2022/2023)
- Contact: laszlo.degi@ubbcluj.ro
Section VI – Miscellaneous (UBBMed-M)
- Coordinator: Professor, PhD, Markó Bálint
- Contact: marko.balint@ubbcluj.ro
- Health economics (Associate professor, PhD, Levente Szasz - economist)
- Medical art

Note: Each of these components can become a specific section in the future, based on its more complex development.
General notes
- InfoBioNano4Health will be a general academic infrastructure of the Program
- Current results of UBB in various international ranking in the Medical/Health field:
- QS (2022) – 2 in Romania (601-650 international);
- Leiden Ranking (2022) – 2 in Romania (1100 international);
- UBB is also typically the first university from Romania in most international rankings in the field of psychology/psychiatry/mental health (often in Top-500 in the world).
- The relevant staff associated formally with UBB in various “units” related to the Program is also part of the Program (the Board of each section will specify it).
- The working language of the Program is English.
- The official launch of the UBBMed Program: https://news.ubbcluj.ro/event/ubbmed-intareste-profilul-medical-al-orasului-si-domeniul-sanatatii-in-romania/
- Expressions of interest: Various professionals can be involved as permanent, temporary, or (clinical) adjunct staff. All will have access to UBB infrastructure/facilities and students and to develop new projects through UBB. Those interested can contact the executive responsible Professor, MD, PhD, Răzvan Cherecheș at razvan.m.chereches@gmail.com