Was Tolkien inspired by achondroplasia? One day we will prove it, says Pavel Krejčí
Medical Tribune, 4/4/2024
"We have succeeded in developing a new drug for patients with bone dysplasia, specifically achondroplasia, which is now being tested in Phase II clinical trials. It is an FGFR3 inhibitor based on aptamers, which are small RNA or DNA molecules that have the ability to bind with high specificity to target structures and modulate pathological FGFR3 signalling in achondroplasia," explains Pavel Krejčí, PhD, RNDr. Pavel Krejčí, PhD, from the Faculty of Medicine at St. Anne's Hospital in Brno and the Institute of Biology at Masaryk University, investigator a project supported by the Agency for Health Research (AZV) ČR. In December 2023, he received the award for medical research and development from the Minister of Health.
Pavel Kršek: We can better select patients with severe epilepsy who will benefit from surgery
Medical Tribune, March 6, 2024
"We have introduced a number of new diagnostic techniques in neuroimaging, electrophysiology and molecular genetics that help us determine who is and who is not a good candidate for epilepsy surgery. In addition, we can more precisely locate the source of epileptic seizures so that we can eliminate it more effectively and safely," says Prof. Pavel Kršek, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Paediatric Neurology at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine, University of Charles University and Motol University Hospital, investigator of the project supported by the Agency for Health Research (AZV) ČR and awarded by the Minister of Health for Health Research and Development in December 2023. For future paediatric and adult patients with intractable epilepsy, this increases the chances of achieving a seizure-free state and other negative consequences of the disease, hence a normal quality of life.
AZV ČR is interested in preclinical research and non-commercial clinical evaluation
Minute MT, 19 Feb 2024
Chair ČR Prof. Ondřej Slabý summarises for Minuty MT what has been achieved in his first year at the head of the Agency.
Genetics matters for tick-borne encephalitis, says Daniel Růžek
Medical Tribune, 19 February 2024
"We have found genetic polymorphisms that predispose a person infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus to develop a severe form of infection. We are therefore able to identify patients at higher risk of severe disease. In addition, we have discovered biomarkers, either in serum or cerebrospinal fluid, which can inform doctors about the extent of brain tissue damage in tick-borne encephalitis, the prognosis of its further development and the risk of long-term or permanent health consequences after the infection," summarizes Prof. Daniel Růžek, Ph.D, D., of the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University, the Biological Centre of the CAS ČR and the Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine, investigator project supported by the Agency for Health Research (AZV) ČR and awarded by the Minister of Health for Health Research and Development in December 2023.
David Cibula: our research is changing oncogynecology practice
Medical Tribune, Feb 6, 2024
"The SENTIX academic study had a clear objective and outcome for clinical practice. We provided the first prospective data on the safety of performing sentinel node biopsy instead of pelvic lymphadenectomy in patients with early stage cervical cancer. Now we have to work to ensure that our results are accepted internationally and change the international recommended practices," says Prof. David Cibula, MD, CSc., Head of the Department of Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology at the 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, investigator of the project supported by the Agency for Health Research ČR and awarded by the Minister of Health for Health Research and Development in December 2023.
Sleep disorder research focuses on disruptive technologies and the gut microbiome
Medical Tribune, 12/19/2023
Researchers from the Department of Neurology at the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague and the University Hospital of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences together with the research group of doc. Ing. Jan Rusz from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU. This project was supported by a grant from the Medical Research Agency and its main goal is to find out how to replace the expensive and capacity-limited diagnostics in the sleep laboratory and how to effectively search for this disease. "Speech is one of the most complex motor skills. Therefore, using modern techniques and artificial intelligence, we want to extract interesting information from our speech in relation to neurodegenerative diseases," explains Assoc. Rusz.
Five scientists received the Minister's Award for Research and Development in Health Care
ZdraveZpravy.cz, 13. 12. 2023
The Minister of Health Award for Medical Research and Development was awarded to scientists for their discoveries in the treatment of cervical cancer, tick-borne encephalitis and skeletal dysplasia. Other awards were given to scientists for advances in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and focal cortical dysplasia.
CZARMA conference: how to reduce the current administrative burden of R&D?
Vědavýzkum.cz, October 5, 2023
The Czech Association of Research Managers and Administrators (CZARMA) organized a conference on this topic in connection with the Common Position on Reducing Administrative Burden in Science and Research. The event took place on October 3, 2023 in Prague with the organizational support of Charles University, where 6 representatives of providers of special-purpose support and more than 180 members of the association gathered in its representative premises, while another 80 participated online. The panel discussion with representatives of providers was also attended by Chair AZV ČR Professor Ondřej Slabý.
Secrets of medical research: From the lab to you!
Scientist Night 2023, 24 September 2023
Discover the secrets of medical research with us. Find out how many scientists are involved in biomedical research in the Czech Republic, how an idea becomes a reality, how many people are involved in the development of a drug or how long it takes to get from the lab to the patient. Professor RNDr. Ondřej Slabý, Ph.D., Chair AZV ČR , will also reveal who and how decides which research projects in healthcare will be supported or what to do to ensure that money for research remains and what happens if it does not.
At AZV I can combine my experience in research, healthcare and government
Medical Tribune, Mar 13, 2023
"Although the Health Research Agency is working well and effectively, I wish we could address some of the already chronic problems it entails. For example, the unclear definition of the concept of applied research in health care, the unclear legislative framework for supporting 'academic' clinical trials or the lack of communication of the results of medical research not only to professionals but especially to the general public," says Prof. RNDr. Ondřej Slabý, Ph.D., who was appointed by the Minister of Health in February this year as the chairman of AZV ČR .
Ondřej Slabý is the new Chairman of the Agency for Health Research
Vědavýzkum.cz, 3. 2. 2023
Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek appointed Ondřej Slabý as chairman of the Agency for Health Research. The Agency is an organisational unit of the state under the direct competence of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. Within the framework of its agenda, it provides the basis for the provision of special-purpose support in accordance with the National Policy of Research, Experimental Development and Innovation of the Czech Republic, on the basis of a public tender in the field of research and development.
Minister of Health Award for Health Research and Development
Terapie.digital, 14. 12. 2022
Today, Minister Vlastimil Válek awarded scientists for their outstanding achievements in projects in the field of applied health research and development at the Břevnov Monastery. In 2021, 76 projects were completed within the framework of medical research supported by the Ministry of Health. The selection of the best of these successfully completed projects was made by the Agency for Health Research of the Czech Republic on the basis of predetermined criteria.
Standardized development and format of clinical guideline practices from 2022
Medical Tribune, Dec 1, 2022
The recommended procedures that have been and are being developed in the Czech territory are highly variable, non-standardized, with a high degree of heterogeneity, which is often copied by the quality and even the price of health care. This variability was to be bridged by the Clinical Recommended Practices (CRP) project, which created a methodology for the creation of CRPs, and the first 41 CRPs, which were created in 2018-2022 according to the adopted methodology, have been subject to a review and are published on the National Portal of Clinical Recommended Practices (kdp.uzis.cz).
Results of the Czech study at ESMO 2022 in Paris
Medical Tribune, 17 October 2022
At this year's ESMO, results from the Czech SENTIX study (NCT02494063), which has been ongoing since 2016 under the direction of the Oncogynecology Centre of the VFN in 47 centres in 18 countries in Europe and South America, were selected for oral presentation. It was the only purely academic study in the gynaecological cancer block. This work was supported by two grants AZV ČR . The study prospectively enrolled more than 700 patients with early stage cervical cancer over five years. The main objective of the study, which is to verify the oncological safety of sentinel node biopsy instead of pelvic lymphadenectomy, will be presented next year. The work presented at ESMO this year dealt with the pathological treatment of sentinel nodes.
A multidisciplinary approach in diabetes leading to the detection of micro- and macrovascular complications
Medicine after graduation, 18. 3. 2022
Patients with diabetes mellitus often do not meet the criteria for satisfactory diabetes control in terms of both pre- and postprandial glucose, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) values, glycaemic variability, but more recently also time spent in the target range (4-10 mmol/l, TIR). If the patient also has a certain genetic predisposition to microangiopathic complications, late complications of diabetes develop. Similarly, unsatisfactory compensation of diabetes, together with genetic predispositions, risk factors for atherosclerosis (smoking, hypertension, obesity, etc.) and their genetic predispositions (e.g. predisposition for hypertension increases the risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease by 6% in patients with diabetes)3, contribute to the development of macrovascular complications of diabetes.
AZV evaluates research proposals on the impacts of covidu
Medical Tribune, Jan 20, 2022
Research into the impact of covid-19 on the health sector may shed light on the department's long-standing problems. The Agency for Health Research ČR is allocating 166 million crowns for analyses of health care practices with regard to the covid-19 pandemic or other possible pandemics. This is sub-programme number 3 of the Health Applied Research Support Programme. 53 project proposals have applied for support. The Agency will evaluate them by mid-February. From April onwards, the analyses should be underway and the completion of the projects should be no later than the end of 2023.
Diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the patient with left ventricular wall thickening - update 2021
Medicine after graduation, 22 June 2021
The aim of this communication is to describe a practical approach to the management of patients with left ventricular (LV) wall thickening. The cause of LV wall thickening may be myocardial hypertrophy in arterial hypertension, valvular defects, athlete's heart or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Infiltrative and steady-state myocardial diseases also mimic LV hypertrophy in their phenotype, although morphologically they are not true myocardial hypertrophy. Significant advances have been made in the differential diagnosis of this group of diseases, and new options for specific treatment are available, especially for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and transthyretin myocardial amyloidosis.
Most severe epilepsies in children are caused by de novo mutations in neuronal channel genes
Medical Tribune, 4/19/2021
"By being able to elucidate the aetiology of the difficulties in a large proportion of paediatric patients with severe and early epilepsy or epileptic encephalopathy, we can reassure the vast majority of parents that the newly developed mutations in their children are a one-off mistake and that they need not worry about the risk in their other offspring. In addition, we will end the so-called diagnostic odyssey - meaning that patients no longer have to undergo further unnecessary investigations or hospitalisations, and ultimately do not have to undergo sometimes unnecessarily aggressive therapies that provide no benefit." says Prof. Pavel Seeman, M.D., Ph.D., from the DNA Laboratory of the Department of Child Neurology at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University in Prague and Motol University Hospital, on the conclusions of the project supported by the first public grant competition AZV ČR , for which he received an award from the Minister of Health at the end of 2019.
Will healed plasmids help reduce carbapenem resistance?
Medical Tribune, Mar 2, 2021
The microbiologist Prof. Ing. Jaroslav Hrabák, Ph.D., manager of the Biomedical Centre of the Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Pilsen. At the end of 2019, he received an award from the Minister of Health for a project supported by a grant AZV ČR .
There are no guidelines like guidelines or methodology matters
Medical Tribune, 8. 2. 2021
A problem not only in the domestic environment is the fact that diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations are heterogeneous and occur in a very variable form, without a uniform methodology for their creation. Therefore, in 2018, a five-year project was launched at ČR (more at kdp.uzis.cz) with the aim of proposing at least forty clinical guideline procedures (CGPs) that will cover diseases or medical areas with the highest heterogeneity of medical care, and to prepare a methodological background for their creation and updating in accordance with global standards.
Combination of BH3 mimetics - a way to beat aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas?
Medical Tribune, Jan 18, 2021
"We must realise that the part of biomedical research that focuses on patients and the effectiveness of therapy is extremely important so that we do not depend only on results from abroad and lose the ability to analyse how we treat and whether we do it well. This is my deep conviction," says Prof. Pavel Klener, M.D., Ph.D., Vice-Dean of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University for Scientific Activities and Academic Rank, who works at the Institute of Pathological Physiology and the 1st Internal Clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and the VFN. He believes that it is possible to combine scientific work with clinical work and that every doctor in a university hospital should do it. Thanks to a grant from AZV ČR he and his research group have, among other things, preclinically verified that one promising avenue that seems to be effective in refractory or relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is targeted inhibition of antiapoptotic proteins using a combination of BH3 mimetics.
Geriatric syndromes in the era of the new coronavirus - the importance of delirium
Medicine after graduation, 21 Sep 2020
Elderly people with immune disorders, chronic geriatric syndromes (especially frailty and dementia), and severe comorbidities represent a group at higher risk for complications of all major diseases, including COVID-19. One of these complications is delirium, an acute syndrome characterized by simultaneous disturbances of consciousness and attention, perception' thinking' memory' psychomotor behavior' emotion, and sleep rhythm. Delirium significantly worsens the patient's overall prognosis and has a high lethality. It occurs in 20-40% of hospitalized elderly patients, although it is a preventable condition. Comprehensive preventive interventions can reduce the incidence of delirium by 40%, thereby improving both the quality of life of patients and reducing the cost of care and treatment.