The event commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and the Council Conclusions, which have had a fundamental impact on the development of personalized medicine in Europe.
The conference program focused primarily on evaluating ten years of progress in this field, presenting the successes of the SRIA strategy, and sharing examples of international cooperation. The introduction of personalized medicine into clinical practice, the possibilities of using health data, and the ethical and legal issues associated with it were also discussed. There was also a debate on further development and the necessary steps for integrating personalized medicine into health systems.
The Czech Republic was represented at the conference by Ondřej Slabý, head of the Center for Precision Medicine at Brno University Hospital, head of our Department of Biology, and chairman of the Czech Health Research Council, and Pavel Doleček, member of the presidium of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. In their introductory speeches and the subsequent panel discussion, they offered a Czech perspective on the development of science and research, particularly in the field of personalized medicine.
After the Prague conference, a delegation of representatives from foreign centers of precision medicine, EP/IC PerMed, and the European Commission visited the Center for Precision Medicine at Brno University Hospital. During the two-day visit, the functioning of the center, its programs, and other strategic plans were presented. Close cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University, CEITEC MU and Centre of Excellence CREATIC was also emphasized.
The program of the visit to Brno also included presentations of selected research activities. Jaroslav Štěrba, head of the Department of Pediatric Oncology at Brno University Hospital and scientific director of the National Institute for Cancer, presented a personalized medicine program for pediatric oncology patients. Regina Demlová, director of the CREATIC Center of Excellence, outlined its focus on personalized treatment of pediatric oncology patients and rare or undiagnosed diseases. Aleš Hampl, head of the Department of Histology and Embryology, then presented a research program in the field of tissue engineering.
Foreign guests in Brno shared their experiences and examples of good practice and discussed current topics that could support further international cooperation and the development of personalized medicine. Finally, the participants visited the laboratory of the research group led by Ondřej Slabý and other facilities of the Central European Institute of Technology. Thanks to the close interconnection of the Brno scientific community, research focused on personalized medicine is also being conducted here.
In this follow-up article from our series on ethical and security aspects of the academic environment, we focus on ethics and the protection of rights. These values form one of the fundamental pillars of academic culture. They promote fair treatment, open communication, and responsibility towards students and employees.
The Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University and Brno University Hospital are establishing a joint biobank of biological samples. It will help advance biomedical research and accelerate the transfer of knowledge into clinical practice.
