The GACR President’s Award Given to the 100th Winner This Year
The President of the Czech Science Foundation (GACR), Professor Milan Jirsa, has awarded the five best scientific projects this evening at the Liechtenstein Palace of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The award-winning basic research contributed to a significant deepening of knowledge in the given disciplines and paved the way for their further practical application. This year’s five laureates bring the total number of scientists who have received the award since 2003 to 100.
In the award-winning projects, scientists discovered, for example, how cells communicate with each other in autoimmune diseases, which opens up possibilities for their treatment. They studied the processes of permafrost thawing and freezing and their impact on the climate. They reconstructed the lost work of the ancient physician and philosopher Galen. They analysed complex mathematical models for use in real life and immediately applied them to innovations in agricultural technology. They also showed the impact of climate change on life in deserts.
“The selection of projects was extremely difficult again this year, as a substantial number of outstanding projects were nominated. This is further proof that the quality of Czech research is constantly improving and reaching world-class levels in many areas. The significant application overlap of this year’s award-winning projects is also important – some of the findings have already been put into practice during the research,” says Professor Milan Jirsa, GACR President.
The GACR President’s Award has been presented annually since 2003 in recognition of exceptional results achieved in grant projects completed in the previous year. The winners are selected on the recommendation of several hundred scientists who evaluate projects funded by the GACR. The awards are presented in five areas of basic research: Technical Sciences; Physical Sciences; Medical and Biological Sciences; Social Sciences and Humanities; and Agricultural and Biological-Environmental Sciences. This year’s five award winners bring the total number of laureates to 100.
The GACR President’s Award ceremony included attendees from the Minister of Science, Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Education, the Council for Research, Development and Innovation, several universities, the Czech Academy of Sciences, and dozens of other distinguished guests.
Medical and Biological sciences
Mgr. Peter Dráber, Ph.D., First Faculty of Medicine, BIOCEV, Charles University
Modulating inflammatory communication between cells to suppress autoimmune diseases (project: The role of CMTM4 protein in signalling via the IL17 receptor)
The research team focused on finding new approaches to specifically suppress the harmful immune response in autoimmune diseases without disrupting the body’s natural defences. In this project, the scientists studied in detail the activation of an important pro-inflammatory receptor that recognises the inflammatory protein IL-17. The scientists discovered a previously unknown but, from the point of view of human immunity, a very important component of this receptor – the little-studied protein CMTM4.
Source: Czech Science Foundation
Interview with Dr. Dráber (in Czech) HERE
