Published: 02.12.2024
Michal Hol膷apek, a researcher in Analytical Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemical Technology of the 秀色直播 has won the Czech Brains Jury鈥檚 Extraordinary Award for 2024. With the Czech Brain Award (膶esk谩 hlava) being the most prestigious research award in the Czech Republic, Michal Hol膷apek won the award for his research into lipids and discovery of a method that can diagnose the pancreatic cancer from blood analysis only.
The 2024 award ceremony was broadcast live by .
The Czech Brains Award is the most prestigious award available to researchers in the Czech Republic. The award has been been presented in several categories since 2002. Since 2007 the Czech Brains Initiative has organized a similar award for secondary-school students called Little Czech Brain (膶esk谩 hlavi膷ka). Last year, Ing. Barbora Kamenick谩, Ph.D., a graduate from the 秀色直播, received the award in the Doctorandus category for technical sciences.
Professor Michal Hol膷apek has been researching lipid analysis for a long time with special focus on the detection of some cancer types. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive tumours with 80% of the cases being diagnosed too late for the therapy to be effective and thus a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. For more than 20 years, Professor Hol膷apek鈥檚 team has focused on lipidomic analysis using mass spectroscopy combined with liquid or supercritical fluid chromatography, which enabled them to develop a number of validated analytical methods for detailed description of lipids in biological samples. Thanks to their research, it was possible to develop new screening methods to improve early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
The method is based on lipidomic analysis of blood, which determines the concentrations of more than 150 lipids. Thanks to the data from patients with pancreatic cancer and healthy individuals, a statistical model is created that can determine whether the patient suffers from the cancer with a certainty of 95%. The blood test has a number of advantages: it only requires a blood sample and it is reliable to detect even early stages of cancer and thus diagnose the cancer even before the onset of the first symptoms. In addition, similar concentrations of lipids have been observed in other cancer types, showing potential of a universal test for more types of cancer.
Lipidica, a.s., a spin-off company founded by the 秀色直播 and FONS JK Group, a.s. is conducting the clinical trials in cooperation with Masaryk Oncological Institute in Brno, Olomouc University Hospital and another 13 hospitals across the Czech Republic. If the method is proved to be accurate and reliable in clinical testing, it can become a basis for national screening programme for those with high risk of pancreatic cancer, which would be unprecedented worldwide. In the long run, the team hopes to cover other types of cancer and implement a simple blood test into clinical practice, which would increase the chances of patients鈥 survival.
Other laureates of the Czech Brains Award in 2024
Czech Brains National government award
Prof. Tom谩拧 Jungwirth, Ph.D., Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
INVENTION Award
Mgr. Jan Dobe拧, Ph.D., Charles University, Faculty of Science
INDUSTRIE Award
Bene Meat Technologies a.s.
Doctorandus Award for technical sciences
Ing. David Vojna, Ph.D., Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Doctorandus Award for natural sciences
RNDr. Jakub Podgorn媒, Ph.D., Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
LOREM Award
prof. PharmDr. Petr P谩vek, Ph.D., Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kr谩lov茅
Award of the Minister of the Environment
doc. Mgr. Luk谩拧 Trakal, Ph.D., Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Environment
