Thanks to a 50 million CZK grant from the H2020 ERA Chair call, Professors Martin Bobák and Hynek Pikhart from University College London will join forces with RECETOX - Masaryk University to develop the Centre’s Environmental Epidemiology research programme.
Research already being conducted at RECETOX, examining the various factors affecting human and population health, will be bolstered by the two accomplished Czech scientists who have been working abroad for over twenty years. With the funding from the ERA Chair grant, Martin Bobák and Hynek Pikhart from UCL will develop the Environmental Epidemiology research programme at RECETOX. Although officially their work on the project began on July 1st, their physical presence in Brno is currently limited by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As stated by Jana Klánová, the director of RECETOX: “We have acquired experienced scientists, who will help us develop the research in the environmental and social epidemiology field, and therefore, gain a better understanding of the environment’s impact on human health.” In the future, the Centre’s research will focus of developing concepts for improving the health, and quality of life of populations.
People across the world are increasingly suffering from chronic diseases and disorders, presumably developing due to a combination of genetic predispositions, lifestyle, nutrition, social status, and a polluted environment. Identifying how individual factors contribute to human health is only possible through long-term monitoring of large population groups consisting of various age categories. Martin Bobák and Hynek Pikhart will conduct such studies and lead a new research program focused on environmental epidemiology, and a research group on social epidemiology, respectively.
Both Bobák and Pikhart studied at Charles University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, obtaining their doctorate at University College London (UCL). For over twenty years, they have been working at the Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL, conducting epidemiological studies in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) has a new member. For the first time, the Czech Republic was represented by the RECETOX scientist Katarína Řiháčková at the international meeting on global regulation of toxic substances.
Masaryk University, in cooperation with the RECETOX research center, organized an international scientific symposium on current environmental and health crises.
