Published: 10.01.2022
The award for outstanding results in research, experimental development and innovation in the field of science was awarded by the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports to Michal Holčapek from the Faculty of Chemical Technology.
The research led by Professor Michal Holčapek from the Faculty of Chemical Technology for which he received the Award of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in the area of research, development and innovation focused on the detection of pancreatic cancer and other types of cancer by means of lipid analysis. The top scientist and his team discovered a new method of pancreatic cancer detection from a drop of blood. The procedure was further extended to kidney, breast and prostate cancer. The analytical chemist confirmed that this procedure could detect the disease with an accuracy exceeding 90 percent.
The study of pancreatic cancer was based on the measurement of over 800 patient samples. The findings were verified by independent measurements in top departments in Germany and Singapore. The team obtained a European patent for the methodology while patents for other types of carcinoma are pending. Now the scientists are planning to translate the methodology into clinical practice.
“The analysis of lipids for early detection of selected types of carcinoma was preceded by many years of development of new lipidomic methods. The first step was a qualitative analysis, then a robust quantification and only after that an analysis of patient blood and tissue,” says Prof. Ing. Michal Holčapek, Ph.D., who has been involved in the development of new lipid analysis methods for more than 20 years and has received a number of national and international awards. “Currently, an individual can’t achieve much in science because multidisciplinary research requires larger teams. It is a great pleasure for me to see young people from several countries interested in science in my group. They are the ones who push the possibilities of lipidomic analysis further,” added Michal Holčapek, who is also the co-founder and Vice-President of the International Lipidomics Society.
Last year, Professor Michal Holčapek received the Rector’s Plaque of Recognition for outstanding scientific achievement. He is the first winner for an exceptional international reach of his basic research and implementation of research results in practice. The graduate from the University of Pardubice is one of the most cited authors of scientific publications.
Prof. Ing. Michal Holčapek, Ph.D. | University of Pardubice (upce.cz)
