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.
On 7 November 2024, the Vice-Rector for Research and Doctoral Studies, Professor Šárka Pospíšilová, handed over the award to the graduates of doctoral studies at Masaryk University who were selected on the basis of several criteria. These include the successful completion of studies within the standard period of four years extended by a maximum of one year and the simultaneous acquisition of high-quality research results included in the dissertation. This year, a total of 31 recent PhDs were awarded, along with their supervisors and advisors, who were significantly involved in the preparation of the thesis.
Vasileios Apostolopoulos graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in the Surgery and Reproductive Medicine program. He demonstrated theoretically, experimentally and clinically the equal quality of two materially and financially different types of knee arthroplasty. Thus, for a given financial volume, a higher number of more affordable endoprostheses can be implanted without limitation.
Veronika Fedorová graduated from the Biomedical Sciences programme at the Faculty of Medicine. As part of her work she studied the early development of the human nervous system and its ability to self-renew. The new findings are valuable for advancing the treatment of many diseases of the nervous system.
Michael Theodore Grey graduated from the Neuroscience program at the School of Medicine. He studied the consequences of the increase in white matter lesion volume both due to age and in patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The main contribution is a better understanding of the effects of natural brain aging and various diseases on cognitive decline.
Pavla Hujová graduated from the Biomedical Sciences programme at the Faculty of Medicine. During her studies she experimentally and with the help of a wide range of methods investigated factors affecting splicing aberrations of genes, which are mutations that are among the common causes of Mendelian inherited diseases.
Karolina Poredská graduated from the Internal Medicine programme at the Faculty of Medicine. Her research focused on Crohn's disease and its reappearance after surgical removal of the affected part of the intestine. The findings of the study may contribute to selecting patients for better and earlier postoperative therapy.
Tereza Prokopová graduated from the Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Algesiology program at the Faculty of Medicine. She investigated the phenomenon of moral distress in healthcare workers not only in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in the context of palliative care and its delivery in the intensive care setting.
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.
Masaryk University has become associate member of the EBRAINS research infrastructure. The partnership opens up new opportunities for scientists in the field of brain research.
