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30. Apr. 2013
CEITEC MU scientist Dalibor Blažek received a prestigious Pilot Study Award from the American foundation Marsha Rivkin Center which finances ovarian cancer research. The Center provides grants to scientists whose research is innovative and has clear potential to get a new insight into the molecular mechanism of development of ovarian cancer, which can help to promote the timely detection of this horrible disease and its successful therapy. Scientists receiving these awards usually come from the top American universities, which makes the success of the CEITEC scientist more remarkable.
The Marsha Rivkin Center is a non-profit organisation run by two famous clinical and research institutions in the USA, the Swedish Medical Center and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The foundation grants several Pilot Study Awards each year to finance pilot research experiments for research which is innovative and has clear potential to establish new avenues in ovarian cancer research. To gain one of these awards candidates undergo highly competetive selection procedure, in which each application is assessed by a panel of top American experts. The main criteria for granting an award is innovativeness and the potential of the proposed research to improve understanding of the molecular basis of ovarian cancer and to improve its detection and therapy.
Scientists winning one of these awards usually come from the top American universities, and receive one year award of 75 000 dollars. Pilot Study Awards provide direct support for scientists whose research does not have to fall into the scientific mainstream, but has potential to bring new insight into development of ovarian cancer with capacity to lead to improvement of detection and treatment of the disease. This award is also intended to help recipient to obtain data that can be submitted in applications for long-term grants.
Dalibor Blažek studied molecular biology and genetics at Masaryk University in Brno and pharmacy at the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Brno, where he received his Ph.D. In 2004-2010 he was a postdoctoral student and researcher at the University of California in San Francisco. In 2011 he joined CEITEC as a researcher and from 2012 has led his own research group, studying the molecular mechanism of regulation of gene expression. Dalibor Blažek published papers in renowned scientific journals such as Genes and Development, Molecular Cell and PNAS.
The Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research
The Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research is an American foundation, set up in 1996 by the renowned oncologist Saulem E. Rivkinem in honour of his wife, who died from that form of cancer. The foundation was created by the partnership of two prestigious American institutions – The Swedish Medical Center and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Through grants it supports promising research into the prevention, detection, treatment and understanding of ovarian cancer. It also organises conferences and seminars on this theme. The aim of the foundation is „to save lives and reduce suffering through improved treatment, early detection, and prevention of ovarian cancer“.