Researcher Sergiu Pașca, a graduate of UMF "Iuliu Hațieganu" Cluj-Napoca, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in the United States, one of the most important recognitions in the medical field. The announcement was made on October 19 by Stanford University, where Pașca is a professor, and by the American academy.

He is among 90 regular members elected this year, alongside ten other international members. His election was motivated by his contributions to the development and study of brain organoids and assembloids - models of nerve tissue grown in the laboratory from stem cells, which have provided new understanding of human brain development and disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Pașca graduated from UMF Cluj-Napoca in 2007 and has been active at Stanford since 2009. In 2023 he received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Cluj university. In September 2026, his team announced, in the journal Nature, the transplantation of human cortical organoids into genetically modified mice, with the tissue surviving and forming functional connections with the animals' brains.

According to Stanford, the model could help understand conditions such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, severe autism, and cerebral palsy, although the results do not represent a treatment available to patients. The Academy, founded in 1970, now has over 2,600 members, of which over 200 are international.

For those who studied at UMF Cluj-Napoca and left the country, Pașca's path shows that the training there can lead to international recognition.