Zdeněk Lánský and Leoš Valášek have become new members of the prestigious EMBO organization
Zdeněk Lánský from the Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IBT) and Leoš Valášek from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IMIC) has been elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). The prestigious EMBO community is currently represented by more than 2000 scientists from all over the world.
Zdeněk Lánský is one of the most talented faces of the new generation of Czech physical chemists and biochemists. His research focuses on mitochondrial transport. Since 2016, he has been working as the head of the research group at BTU. For his research projects, he received the Chairman's Award of the Czech Grant Agency for 2021 and in 2022 he received the most prestigious European Research Council grant "ERC Synergy Grant", under which he is researching the tubulin protein with the aim of elucidating the mechanisms of the origin and functioning of many serious diseases.
Leoš Valášek obtained a master’s degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology in 1994 from Charles University in Prague, after which he went on to study for a PhD at the University of Vienna. A successful post-doc at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA paved the way for him to pursue an independent career at the IMIC. Valášek’s laboratory strives to figure out how the cell deciphers the genetic code of DNA using relatively simple decoding keys and uses this gene-encoded information to produce proteins, i.e., cellular effectors, through a very complex process also called translation.
„Becoming a member of EMBO is an honor for every scientist. The real beauty of this selection is that it is apolitical; in essence, established scientists (EMBO members) vote for their colleagues whom they perceive as leaders in the field to “welcome them into the club”, so to speak. What does this mean for me? Strong determination and commitment to keep going our way and probably better access to all that EMBO membership has to offer,“ says Leoš Valášek.
EMBO is an organization of more than 2,000 leading scientists that promotes excellence in the life sciences in Europe and beyond. One of its main objectives is to support talented scientists, foster the exchange of scientific information and create an environment in which scientists can achieve the best results. This year the organization announced the election of new members in a press release on 9 July 2024. It will officially welcome the new members in Heidelberg, Germany, from 29 October to 1 November 2024.
Source: IMIC and Learned Society of the Czech Republic
