Aleš Hampl, Head of the Department of Histology and Embryology at the Masaryk University Faculty of Medicine, was awarded the Babák Medal at the Biology Days.
The Brno-Bohunice University Campus traditionally hosted Biology Days before the start of the new academic year. This year's twenty-seventh edition was subtitled Tissue Microenvironment and welcomed more than one hundred and fifty experts from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The three lecture sessions were preceded by the Babák Lecture, named after the third dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University - and later rector - Professor Edward Babák.
However, the eminent Czech physiologist and physician was not only the founder of Brno higher education, more than a hundred years ago he was also the founder of the Biological Society, the first professional platform for biological sciences in the Czech lands. Thus, his name is not only borne by the lecture, but primarily by the medal associated with it, awarded as the most important award of the Czech-Slovak Biological Society to personalities of biological research for their fundamental contribution to the development of biological sciences.
This year, the Committee of the Czech-Slovak Biological Society awarded the Babák Medal to the Head of the Department of Histology and Embryology, Associate Professor Aleš Hampl, for his contribution to the development of stem cell biology and its applications in tissue engineering. Aleš Hampl established the first embryonic stem cell lines from human blastocysts in the Czech Republic in 2003 and during the following years he significantly contributed to the understanding of the unique biological properties of this biomedically attractive cell type.
As a result, he became a representative of the Czech Republic in the International Registry of Pluripotent Stem Cells and a member of the management team of the European Consortium for the Communication of Information on Gene and Cell Therapy. Since 2010, he has been the head of the Institute of Histology and Embryology of the Faculty of Medicine, which under his leadership has developed into a major workplace dealing with stem cell biology and the development of their biomedical applications. In addition to his research activities, he is also a prominent pedagogical figure shaping new generations of researchers and physicians.
Dr. Jana Djakow and Associate Professor Martina Kosinová from the Department of Simulation Medicine at Masaryk University Faculty of Medicine were the first women in the Czech Republic to receive degrees from international professional societies in the field of resuscitation and anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine, respectively.
At the beginning of November, six graduates of the Faculty of Medicine received the Masaryk University Vice-Rector's Award for Excellence in Doctoral Studies.
