Biology Department is traditionally preparing a series of BIOTOP seminars that aim to introduce students to career opportunities outside of academia. The seminars are intended for bachelor, master and doctoral students as well as postdoctoral fellows.
The fall semester 2023 will be opened by Kateřina Šolcová, Ph.D., who studied Biochemistry at the University of Chemical Technology in Prague and received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. With more than a decade of academic experience, she has specialized in RNA-binding proteins, RNA modification, and RNA regulation, expanding her expertise in this area. Currently, Kateřina works as a member of the business analysis team at CUIP and as a consultant for the Vienna-based incubator Danube Labs. Her task is the analysis and business development of discoveries, inventions and research originating from Charles University.
The next scheduled guest will be Veronika Palušová, Ph.D., - a successful graduate of the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, MU. After completing her PhD studies, Veronika continued as a postdoctoral fellow at CEITEC MU, where she focused mainly on Cancer Biology. After seven years of academic work, she received an offer from industry and currently works as an application specialist at BioVendor in Brno. Here she supports clinical laboratories in the Czech Republic, specializing in immunology and allergy.
Students can also look forward to the international guest María S. Soengas, PhD. María began her scientific career first as an undergraduate student at the University of Coruña and later at the University of Madrid, where she studied Molecular Biology. After successfully obtaining her PhD degree, María worked in S. Lowe's group at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York (USA), where she evaluated the role of apoptosis as a tumor suppressor mechanism, with a special focus on melanoma. She then joined the Department of Dermatology at the University of Michigan in 2002, where she developed a program of basic research on melanoma. Her group defined novel molecular mechanisms underlying the initiation, progression and chemoresistance of human melanoma. Since 2008, María has led the melanoma group at CNIO. The main goal of her team is to translate basic melanoma research into clinical practice through the identification of new disease markers and targets for drug development.
The last guest will be Ana Rubina Perestrelo, PhD. Ana received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of the Algarve in Portugal. She has also done research in the field of translational medicine as a postdoctoral fellow at St. Anne's University Hospital in Brno. After several years in academia, Ana moved to the private sector, where she currently works as a market analyst for the Eppendorf Group in Basel, Switzerland.
The semester will conclude with a two-part workshop organized in collaboration with the Technology Transfer Office of the Faculty of Medicine, MU. During the workshop, students will have the opportunity to discover the application of their research results in the industrial field under the supervison of lecturers.
Current information about BIOTOP workshops is available on the website. The workshops are part of the official course, which students can find in the course catalogue.
The Head of the Department of Biology, Prof. Ondřej Slabý, has been elected Academician of the Year for preclinical teaching in a student poll organized by the Medical Students Association. The award ceremony occurred during the 26th Faculty of Medicine and Medical Students Association Representative Ball. Congratulations 😊.
The head of the research group, Dr. Pavel Krejčí, spoke to Medical Tribune about developing a new drug for patients with achondroplasia, which is now in the phase 2 clinical trial.
