September 2025 in Science at MED MUNI

We have launched a new course promoting entrepreneurship among doctoral students and researchers. In cooperation with JIC and CEITEC MU, we launched the Life Science Transfer Academy in October. The several-week course, with the motto "From Discovery to Innovation," is intended for anyone interested in learning more about how to put their research or innovation into practice. Participants are supported by an international team of mentors, investors, scientists, and experts who have successfully launched their own businesses in the field of life sciences. Successful graduates of the course will receive an internationally recognized micro-certificate.

Lenka Bešše, head of a research group at the Department of Biology, together with colleagues from Germany and Switzerland, has published the results of international research into the effects of proteasome inhibition in multiple myeloma. These findings open up new possibilities for the use of already approved and clinically available drugs. In the first case, it is a combination of immunotherapy with a proven therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, which increases the effectiveness of immunotherapy even in patients who lose response. The second case involves the alleviation of adverse effects of treatment that prevent the administration of the drug in the required dose, thereby preventing the full antitumor potential from being exploited. The new findings were published in the online journal Blood and iScience.

Leandro Loriga from the Department of Medical Psychology and Ethics has published a book entitled Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. It deals with the diagnosis of body integrity dysphoria. This is a condition in which a person considers a part of their body (or sense) to be so foreign that they have an insistent desire to have it removed. The condition still raises more questions than it answers. We discussed the publication in an interview with its author, and it was also mentioned in the magazine 100+1 - Miracles of Medicine. 

BRIDGE, Biochemistry Research in Drug Investigation and General Exploration research group. The research team, led by Ondřej Peš and Jan Juřica, works simultaneously at the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Pharmacology. This interdisciplinary group of scientists studies the metabolism of low molecular weight substances at various biochemical levels (cell, tissue, compartment, animal models, clinical studies) with subsequent application for medical purposes (pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, identification of diagnostic markers, therapeutic drug monitoring). Their research also focuses on the regulation of biotransformation enzymes, particularly at the central level, and on drug interactions at the level of biotransformation enzymes and transport proteins.

What can you look forward to in September? For example, another Research Breakfast, several very interesting conferences and events, or Mendel Lectures with Juli Feigon. You can find an overview of all events in the Event Calendar.

Libor Streit took a seat in the guest chair in the latest episode of the Stetoskop podcast. The discussion focused on health literacy and breast cancer prevention, as well as the latest CHOICE project.

Anything that makes a splash in our science and research. Read what interesting things happened and what our scientists did in September.

Don't want to miss any more news? Follow Science_MEDMUNI on the X network.