May 2025 in Science at our faculty
We bring you a selection of the most interesting things in science and research at our faculty in May 2025.
success stories
The internal MUNI Award in Science and Humanities grant to support excellent research brings a young scientist, Martin Loucka, to the Institute of Medical Psychology and Ethics. After graduating from the Faculty of Social Studies at MU, Dr Loučka went on to complete his PhD studies at Lancaster University in the UK. Before coming to our Faculty, he worked at the 3rd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. More information about the success of our academics and researchers can be found here.
science into practice
A multidisciplinary team of scientists has demonstrated one of the ways in which the coronavirus enters the brains of infected people. Their research focused on the so-called choroid plexus, a part of the brain that produces cerebrospinal fluid and is known to be a gateway for some pathogens. By analysing 24 deceased people, they then discovered the virus in this part of the brain and traced its path. Understanding these mechanisms of virus transmission is key to elucidating the pathological changes in brain tissue associated with COVID-19 disease. The results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Journal of Medical Virology.
article of the month
Several excellent publications blossomed in the spring. A team of authors published a paper in Movement Disorders in which they described the impact of non-invasive interferential stimulation on the treatment of Parkinson's disease and the potential to replace deep electrodes inserted into the brain. A first-authored publication by Klara Marečková and co-authors describes the association of a pro-inflammatory diet in childhood with brain development and IQ in early adulthood. A team of scientists from several institutions published a comparative study of biparametric magnetic resonance imaging and prostate-specific antigen as a new option for screening early stages of prostate cancer.
med muni in media
The Centre of Precision Medicine at the Brno University Hospital celebrates its 1st year. This interdisciplinary workplace, which brings together experts from clinical medicine and biomedical research, has made significant progress in precision oncology for adult and paediatric patients and in the field of rare diseases in its first year of existence. It has provided personalised care to hundreds of patients. Media coverage of this anniversary and other achievements of our scientists can be found here.
let´s introduce
Kateřina Kaňková, Head of the Institute of Pathological Physiology and Head of the Molecular Pathophysiology of Diabetes and its Complications Research Group. Prof. Kaňková's research group has long focused on the study of the processes by which chronic impaired glucose metabolism leads to the development of diabetic kidney disease, in particular. She also focuses on the pathophysiology of gestational diabetes, in particular the possibility of predicting the degree of impaired glucose tolerance after birth and the question of the impact of diabetes on the development of the offspring and, last but not least, the influence of the diabetic microenvironment on the emergence and development of tumours (especially colorectal cancer). Prof. Kaňková is also Vice-Dean for teaching in preclinical fields of general medicine and admissions.
interesting events
What can we look forward to in June? For example, the exhibition in our Medicinal Herbs Garden, many courses, lectures, graduation and much more. For an overview of all events, please see the Events Calender.
podcast stetoskop
Two episodes of the Stetocope podcast were released in May. The first podcast with the title (Not) Sweet Disease with Katarína Chalásová about diabetes research and passion for science and teaching. The second was hosted by Regina Demlova and Katerina Slaba, who bridge the worlds of clinical pharmacology and pediatric genetics, which intersect at the CREATIC Centre of Excellence.
all news
Anything that makes a splash in our science and research. Read what interesting things happened and what our scientists did in August.
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Do you have a new publication, project or award? Do you know someone who has achieved some success? Email us at research@med.muni.cz
