Dr. Zdeněk Spáčil
PI of "Biomarkers of health and disease" research group

Dr. Zdeněk Spáčil holds a dual doctoral degree in analytical chemistry (2010) awarded from both Stockholm University, Faculty of Science (Sweden) and Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy (Czech Republic). As a postdoctoral fellow (2010-2012) and later a research scientist (2014-2015) at the University of Washington, he worked under the tutelage of professors Tureček and Gelb. Currently, he is an assistant professor at Masaryk University, leading a newly established research group at the RECETOX Centre. He researches in the development of advanced analytics for metabolomics and targeted proteomics applied to functional characterization of microbiota, aging-induced metabolic and immunomodulatory modulations relevant to Alzheimer’s disease and pioneering the Exposome (i.e., non-genetic factors affecting human health).

He has expertise in instrumental analytical chemistry (i.e., mass spectrometry, separation science) and clinical chemistry. He substantially contributed to the National Institutes of Health NIH/NIDDK funded projects (Univ. of Washington, Seattle) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grants (Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle). Currently, he is a principal investigator on several projects funded by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR project No. 17-24592Y), the Grant Agency of the Masaryk University (GAMU project No. MUNI/G/1131/2017) and the Czech Health Research Council (AZV project No. NV19-08-00472).

He published 29 research items in JCR-SCI journals with over 700 citations (excluding self-citations, h-index=15). He was leading author on 13 publications (9 first authorship; 6 corresponding authorship; 4 last authorship), and he also authored four patent applications.

He has extensive experience supervising Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows at the international level. He is currently a supervisor of five graduate students and a number of undergaduates.