Julie Dobrovolná, a professor of pathophysiology and head of the Molecular Metabolism and Chronic Diseases research group at RECETOX, Masaryk University, is featured in the European #EUwomen4future campaign. The campaign was initiated by Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth.
The campaign celebrates women across the EU involved in the fields of science, education, culture, and sport, showcases the EU’s commitment to gender equality, highlights successful professionals to encourage young girls to study STEM subjects, and to build networks to help other women and act as role models.
“Be brave and just, as it requires courage and integrity to be the main character in both professional and personal life.”That was the motto chosen by Prof. Dobrovolná for the campaign. “It makes me very happy to be featured in such an important campaign. In addition to science itself, my work also involves promoting and communicating of science, and the # EUwomen4future campaign is an excellent example of popularizing the science itself. I hope that my example will motivate other pupils, students, and young scientists in their work. I want science to be an attractive career choice for girls.”
At RECETOX, Julie Dobrovolná focuses mainly on the pathophysiology of stress, diseases of civilization, and environmental medicine. Her expertise lies mainly in the assessment of environmental factors influencing human health outcomes, with particular emphasis on the course of stress responses under various environmental conditions and the contribution of the stress responses to various diseases. She also develops new methods for measuring stress, an area in which she actively cooperates with the European Space Agency (ESA).
Prof. Dobrovolná is the recipient of numerous awards, including, e.g., the Masaryk University Rector’s Award for Young Scientists or the 2016 Woman of the Region award. She has also won both the Prix de Pharmacie and Prix de Medecine national competitions held under the auspices of the French Embassy of the Czech Republic.
In addition to research, Prof. Dobrovolná is a passionate advocate for science. As an example, she joined the 2019Science Slam contest. Her current projects include reconceptualizing existing theories of stress, development of new methodologies designed to objectively measure levels of consciousness, and studying the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on work-related stress.
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.
