Peter Lenárt receives MU Rector's Prize for outstanding dissertation

Dr. Peter Lenárt completed his doctoral studies by defending his dissertation entitled "Evolutionary mechanisms affecting the fixation of specific rates of aging in sexually reproducing organisms" under the supervision of Prof. MUDr. Julia Dobrovolná, Ph.D. Peter is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Cell Biology, the University of Bern. The main result of his work was the discovery of new, previously unconsidered factors that influence the evolution of aging. For example, using multi-agent models, he has revealed that sexual reproduction can influence the development of aging. Among his other exceptional outcomes is the demonstration that the well-known Williams hypothesis, which states that higher adult mortality leads to the evolution of faster aging, is not universally valid. Also significant is his analysis of human mortality data from 13 highly developed countries over a nearly 65year period, which clearly shows that although women live longer than men, they age at about the same rate.

Peter has authored ten first-authored papers in Q1 journals and is a co-author on five papers. He was awarded the prestigious Brno Ph.D. Talent scholarship to support his doctoral studies. He is also co-author of two patent applications and co-founder of the university spin-off company Entrant s.r.o. During his Ph.D. studies, Peter was also involved in science outreach activities. He actively participated in several science popularization events such as Science slam, Fame lab, Scientists Night, and Children's University (MjUNI). In 2018 and 2019, he presented science at Science Slam Tours in Czech and Slovak high schools.

Peter, congratulation on this award, and all the best in your current position and future career.