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, rickettsia Anaplasma phagocytophilum, 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

Czech Science Foundation

Comparative parasite hybrodisation genomics controlling for host divergence (2018-2020)
Investigator: Joëlle Goüy de Bellocq, Ph.D.

Epidemiology and pathological effects of gastrointestinal helminthiases in critically endangered mountain gorillas (2018-2020)
Investigator: Mgr. Klára Petrželková, Ph.D.

Hybrid zones: natural laboratories for the study of pathogen emergence (2016-2018)
Investigator: Joëlle Goüy de Bellocq, Ph.D.

Genetic diversity and cross-transmissions of strongylid nematodes between African great apes and man (2015-2018)
Investigator: Mgr. Klára Petrželková, Ph.D.

ECIP - European Centre of Ichtyoparasitology (2012-2018)
Co-investigator: Ing. Pavel Jurajda, Dr.