Research Goals

Due to environmental and socio-economic changes as well as growing interconnection of the world, infectious diseases are becoming an important challenge for human and veterinary medicine. Our main goal is thus interdisciplinary and complex research on human and veterinary pathogens with main emphasis on: discovery and scientific description of novel (emerging) pathogens, consideration the role of microbial pathogens and their vertebrate hosts in their natural ecosystems, co-evolution of pathogens with vertebrate reservoirs, risk assessment, determination of preventive and control measures with regard to suppression of emerging infectious diseases.

Issues addressed:

• ecology of arthropod-borne pathogenic microorganisms (e.g., West Nile and tick-borne encephalitis flaviviruses, spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi, rickettsiae Anaplasma phagodytophilum, and protozoan Babesia spp.) including risk assessment;
• implementing 'One health' concept for studying emerging zoonoses;
• white nose syndrome (geomycosis caused by newly described fungus Geomyces destructans) as an emerging threat for european bat population;
• co-evolution of arena-, hanta- and herpesviruses with their reservoir hosts;
• complex research on parasite-host relationship in african primates. 

Running Projects

Grant agency of the Czech Republic

Genetická diverzita a přenosy strongyIidních hlístic mezi africkými lidoopy a lidmi
Investigator: Mgr. Klára Petrželková, Ph.D.

Evolučně-imunitní a ekologické aspekty parazitace u hybridních a polyploidních kaprovitých ryb
Co-investigator: Ing. Lukáš Vetešník, Ph.D.

Adaptace netopýrů na plísňové onemocnění geomykózou
Investigator: Mgr. Natália Martínková, Ph.D.

International projects

VectorNet: a European network for sharing data on the geographic distribution of arthropod vectors, transmitting human and animal disease agents
Investigator: prof. RNDr. Zdeněk Hubálek, DrSc.

EDENext (Biology and Control of Vector-borne Infections in Europe)
Investigator: prof. RNDr. Zdeněk Hubálek, DrSc.