Share
Newly appointed Reseach Group Leaders
As previously announced, two new research groups will be established starting on 1st July. Michal Šmída and Robert Vacha are going to become group leaders. We are now presenting the focus of both groups as well as short bios of new group leaders.
1) Michal Šmída Research Group
Michal´s group research is focused on the identification of novel opportunities for targeted therapy in cancer, currently with the focus on B-cell malignancies like chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CLL is a malignant disorder of white blood cells (B cells), which accumulate in blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes and other organs. It is the most common leukemia in the western countries, affecting predominantly elderly and more commonly men. In spite of the current progress in therapy, CLL does remain an incurable disease.
The main therapy relies on the administration of monoclonal antibodies targeting specific molecules on the surface of B cells. This therapy, however, often fails due to the low expression of the target molecule, the reason of which remains largely unknown. The research group therefore will beinvestigating molecular mechanisms regulating the expression of the target molecule with the aim to propose novel possibilities for a pharmacologic intervention that would lead to a restoration of the target expression and thereby to the improved efficiency of the monoclonal antibody therapy.
On the other hand, the team of Michal Šmída developing novel cell models carrying diverse mutations frequently occurring in CLL patients. These models serve to screen panels of various inhibitors of cellular enzymes and cellular processes in order to identify which inhibitor will selectively kill the cells carrying a specific mutation. Such inhibitors might be used in clinic as a personalized medicine tailor-made for patients with this particular mutation.
In his group´s projects, they use a whole panel of modern molecular biology and functional genomics techniques like whole-genome screening and next-generation sequencing. These techniques are applied on diverse panels of cell lines as well as primary cells from both healthy and diseased donors.
BIO
Before Michal joined the Center of molecular medicine at CEITEC MU, he did his PhD studies at the Institute of molecular and clinical immunology in Magdeburg in Germany and then he worked for four years as a Postdoc at the Center of Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian academy of sciences in Vienna.
2) Robert Vacha Research Group
Robert´s group investigates interactions of proteins and membranes which play a key role in cellular signaling, transport, and defense. Disruption of these interactions results in a variety of diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's disease. Their main tool is computer simulations, using which we reveal the molecular nature of these interactions and their changes caused by protein mutations or altered composition of cell membranes. These changes can be related to age, diet, and environment. They also investigate antimicrobial peptides that have the potential to be used as a new type of antibiotic. The information obtained can be used to diagnose disease risk, develop new therapeutic peptides (antimicrobial peptides, sensors, target specific drug carriers), and suggest new treatment strategies.
BIO
Before Robert joined the Structural biology at CEITEC MU, he obtained PhD at Charles University in Prague under the supervision of Pavel Jungwirth working at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry and attending International Max Planck Research School in Dresden. Then he continued as a Postdoc in the group of Daan Frenkel at the University of Cambridge (UK) and subsequently he was a Postdoc in the group of Mikael Lund at the Lund University (Sweden) .