Researchers presented the top-ranked projects completed in 2022

"The presentation of the best-rated projects is always a small holiday for our agency. It is really joyful to see how their quality is increasing year by year and how the whole field of biomedical research has undergone a huge development in the last ten years," said Prof. Ondřej Slabý, Chair of the Agency for Medical Research (AZV) ČR, at the annual conference held on 9 October 2023 at the premises of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and Motol University Hospital in Prague.

The conference was opened by the Minister of Health, Prof. Vlastimil Válek, who began by remembering the prematurely deceased founder of AZV ČR , Prof. Miroslav Ryska: "He literally trampled the Agency out of the country and I am extremely happy that its development continues successfully - I dare say by leaps and bounds. It is a true bastion of biomedical research in ČR and I promise that there will always be money for it."

The following projects were presented to more than seventy participants at the AZV ČR conference:

P01 Metabolic and endocrine diseases
* prof. MUDr. Viktor Kožich, CSc. - Etiology of severe disorders of sulphur amino acid metabolism: application for targeted diagnosis and personalized treatment in the Czech Republic
* doc. MUDr. Štěpánka Průhová, Ph.D. - Genes affecting pancreatic beta cell function and their importance in the pathogenesis and treatment of monogenic forms of diabetes

P02 Diseases of the circulatory system
* doc. MUDr. Štěpán Havránek, Ph.D. - Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and atrial tachycardia in patients with pulmonary hypertension: a randomized study

P03 Tumour diseases
* prof. MUDr. David Cibula, CSc. - Prospective Observational Study on Sentinel Node Biopsy in Patients with Early Stage Cervical Cancer - Part 2
* prof. RNDr. Šárka Pospíšilová, Ph.D. - Comprehensive Prognostic and Predictive Panel for Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: a Next Generation Sequencing Tool Suitable for Clinical Practice and Study of the Genetic Background of the Disease
* Ing. Veronika Vymetálková, Ph.D. - Identification of diagnostic markers for colorectal cancer based on transcriptomic, methylome and microbiome profiling in the process of transition from adenoma to carcinoma

P04 Neurosciences and Mental Health
* prof. MUDr. Pavel Kršek, Ph.D. - Stratification of patients with focal cortical dysplasia to optimize epileptic surgery
* prof. MUDr. Ivan Rektor, CSc. - Neurobiological and psychological markers of response to extreme stress and its impact on offspring - a three-generation study of Holocaust survivors and their offspring
* doc. Ing. Jan Rusz, Ph.D. - Objective testing of types of speech disorders and their influence on pharmacotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease

P05 Immune disorders and infectious diseases
* RNDr. Veronika Kanderová, Ph.D. - Changes in immune repertoire and leukocyte signalling in patients with congenital immune disorders and autoinflammatory manifestations
* prof. RNDr. Daniel Růžek, Ph.D. - Genetic basis of clinical picture and severity of tick-borne encephalitis

P06 Organ Function Disorders and Intensive Medicine
* prof. MUDr. Ondřej Viklický, CSc. - Surgical tolerance after kidney transplantation

P07 Age-specific disease groups
* prof. Ing. Stanislav Kmoch, CSc. - Determination of the causes of rare genetic diseases in the paediatric population using new methods of genome analysis
* prof. MUDr. Jan Lebl, CSc. - Study of etiopathogenesis and optimization of treatment in children with intrauterine growth restriction and postnatal persistent growth failure
* prof. MUDr. Petr Pohunek, CSc. - Primary ciliary dyskinesia: Genetic, structural and functional determinants of the course and prognosis of the disease

P08 Biomedical Technologies
* doc. MUDr. Andrea Burgetová, Ph.D. - Quantitative multiparametric MRI in longitudinal follow-up of patients with multiple sclerosis: correlation with clinical status and biochemical markers
* RNDr. Pavel Krejčí, Ph.D. - Development of FGFR3 inhibitor for the treatment of skeletal dysplasia

P09 Preventive Medicine and Nursing
* doc. RNDr. Ivo Rudolf, Ph.D. - Preparedness for the introduction of exotic mosquito-borne viral diseases - One Health approach

Many thanks to all the speakers, conference participants and also to the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and Motol University Hospital! We look forward to seeing you again next year! 🙂