prof. Ing. Michal Holčapek, Ph.D.

Prof. Ing. Michal Holčapek, Ph.D. defended his PhD. thesis on the coupling of liquid Chromatography and mass spectrometry under the supervision of prof. Jandera at the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice in 1999. Then he continued in the scientific career  at the same department, where he was appointed as the associate professor in 2009 and the full professor in 2013 for the field of Analytical Chemistry. He had a few research stays abroad in France, USA, and Norway. Prof. Holčapek is an editor of international Journal TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry and a member of Editorial boards of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry and Lipids. He is a vicepresident of the International Lipidomics Society.

Scientific interest

• Mass spectrometry of organic and bioorganic compounds
• Lipidomic analysis
• Lipid biomarkers and malignant cancer early diagnosis

Scientific activities

The research interests of prof. Holčapek are related to the use of mass spectrometry in qualitative and quantitative analyses of organic and bioorganic compounds. In recent years, he is focused mainly on the lipidomic analysis using the coupling of mass spectrometry with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography or ultrahigh-performance supercritical fluid chromatography with the goal of developing validated analytical methods for high-throughput analysis of high number of lipid classes. The key application is the analysis of biological samples of patients with malignant tumor diseases with the aim to discover dysregulated lipids and then apply them for early detection of cancer using multivariate data analysis.

Prominent international cooperation

• prof. M. Wenk - National University of Singapore
• Dr. G. Liebisch - University Hospital Regensburg, Germany
• Dr. K. Ekroos - Lipidomics Consulting Ltd., Esbo, Finland

Bibliometric indicators (Web of Science)

Number of papers 163, H-index 45, Total number of citations > 6 445

Two most important projects carried out from the position of principal investigator or co‑investigator

• Mass Spectrometry in Cancer Research: Lipid Biomarkers for Early Diagnostics, 2013 - 2018, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, ERC CZ (LL1302)
• Characterization of human lipidome and metabolome for personalized healthcare and biomarker discovery: case study of kidney cancer, 2018 - 2022, Czech Science Foundation (GACR) (GA18-12204S)

Two most important publications

• Wolrab D., Jirásko R., Cífková E., Höring M., Mei D., Chocholoušková M., Peterka O., Idkowiak J., Hrnčiarová T., Kuchař L., Ahrends R., Brumarová R., Friedecký D., Vivo-Truyols G., Škrha P., Škrha J., Kučera R., Melichar B., Liebisch G., Burkhardt R., Wenk M. R., Cazenave-Gassiot A., Karásek P., Novotný I., Greplová K., Hrstka R., Holčapek M.: Lipidomic profiling of human serum enables detection of pancreatic cancer, Nature Communications, 13 (2022) Art No. 124
• Holčapek M., Liebisch G., Ekroos K.: Lipidomic Analysis, Analytical Chemistry, 90 (2018) 4249 -4257

Awards

• Dutton Award – awarded by the American Oil Chemists’ Society for significant contribution to the analysis of oils and fats (2022)
• Award of the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports for outstanding achievements in research, experimental development and innovation in the field of natural sciences (2021)
• University of Pardubice Rector’s Plaque for outstanding scientific achievement and exceptional contribution (2020)
• Vladimír Hanuš Award for the best published paper in the field of mass spectrometry for 2022, 2019 and 2016 (I.M.M. Spectroscopic Society)
• Power List award 2020, 2015 and 2013 for the 100 most influential scientists in the world in the field of analytical chemistry (The Analytical Scientist)