On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Agency for Health Research of the Czech Republic (AZV ČR ), a festive conference was held on 12 September 2024 at the Congress Centre of the Czech National Bank in Prague. The expert programme included presentations by the 17 researchers of the top-ranked projects completed in 2023, ten of whom were nominated for an award by the Minister of Health, which will take place this December. All the winners of the Minister of Health's award for health research and development were presented at a poster exhibition.

"It is great to see the huge shift that biomedical research has undergone in the last decade. I am convinced that this positive trend will continue and that it will be contributed to by our departmental agency under the competent leadership of Professor Ondřej Slabý, whose main task is to support quality and innovative biomedical research and development," said the Minister of Health, Professor Vlastimil Válek, at the festive conference.

"Ten years of research and innovation in healthcare represents, among other things, ten years of learning and adapting to the new challenges that modern biomedicine brings. I am delighted that we have been able to introduce several - and it is already proving beneficial - changes in the past year. Among them, I would mention the implementation of an innovative evaluation process in the public competition 'VES 2024' or the organisational security of the agenda concerning the involvement of Czech scientists in the European Partnerships in Health, which may lead to an increase in the competitiveness of ČR in the international research area. This should also be helped by the use of exclusively foreign referees, which we are going to introduce for evaluation project proposals already in this year's public competition," added Chair AZV ČR Professor Ondřej Slabý.

During the gala evening, the book Pathological Microscopic Findings in Skeletal Remains of Important Personalities of Czech History, authored by Professor Ctibor Povýšil, a long-time collaborator of the agency, was launched. The imaginary highlight of the evening programme was the presentation of the Chairman's Awards AZV ČR , which are awarded on the occasion of significant events in the history of the Agency - this time on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. The special awards were given to nine scientists whose supported projects were selected as the most successful in the Agency's history. These projects have contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge in the medical sciences, to innovation, and to improving the quality of health care.

"Congratulations to all the award-winning colleagues and their research teams. I look forward to contributing to further inspiring discoveries and innovations in the coming ten years together with other outstanding research teams," said Professor Ondřej Slabý at the gala evening.

The laureates include:

Doc. RNDr. Běla Bendlová, CSc.
for the project Thyroid tumors in children and adolescents and their molecular genetic basis

Prof. Pavel Osmančík, M.D., Ph.D.
for the project Catheterization closure of the left atrial appendage versus therapy with new oral anticoagulants in at-risk patients with atrial fibrillation (PRAGUE-17 study)

Prof. MUDr. Pavel Klener, Ph.D.
for the project New prognostic and predictive indicators in patients with mantle cell lymphoma at diagnosis and during treatment

Prof. MUDr. Karel Šonka, DrSc.
for the project REM sleep behaviour disorder - clinic, context and development

Prof. MUDr. Tomáš Kalina, Ph.D.
for the project Dysregulation of the immune system: lymphocyte properties in patients with immunodeficiency and autoimmune manifestations

RNDr. Pavel Krejčí, Ph.D.
for the project Identification of new treatment options for achondroplasia through the analysis of the interaction of FGFR3 and the adapter protein Frs2

Prof. MUDr. Jan Lebl, CSc.
for the project Study of etiopathogenesis and optimization of treatment in children with intrauterine growth restriction and postnatal persistent growth failure

Doc. MVDr. Aleš Hampl, CSc.
for the project Epithelial Tissue Engineering: Cells and Protocols for Regenerative Medicine

Doc. PhDr. Radka Bužgová, Ph.D.
for the project Neuropalliative and Rehabilitation Approach for Preserving the Quality of Life of Patients in the Advanced Stage of Selected Neurological Diseases.

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