Leading Figures

Pavel Brůžek sr.

Member of the Board of Directors of Lučební závody Draslovka Kolín

"I started to be interested in chemistry at primary school; at that time chemicals were hard to acquire, so I bought something at the drug store and, during my amateur attempts, destroyed by mum's carpet. She often gave me what for, but what is magic is that I had the same problem with my own son," said Pavel Brůžek senior. (Reflex, November 2021)

Ivana Goosen

Director of Kunsthalle Prague

"Contemporary art is often perceived as part of a bubble that only the chosen can enter. We would like people to start to perceive contemporary art as a partner. One of our aims is to provide inspiring experiences to those that are still looking for a pathway to art. We therefore want to specifically remove barriers of various types," said Ivana Goosen. (idnes.cz, 22 February 2022)

Mikuláš Kroupa

Memory of Nations Project Manager

"I know a number of people that have made lots of money in this country in the last 30 years. And for years I have obviously been trying to convince them to think about the freedom in which they can make money. For example by supporting the Memory of Nations and helping document the stories, for instance, of former political prisoners. It's not easy, but we've found some. We have a donor in BPD partners that supports us CZK 4 m a year. And I'm really grateful," said Mikuláš Kroupa. (Pražský deník, 9 December 2019)

Zuzana Kečkéšová

Head of ÚOCHB Group

"My research is partially focused on detailed characterisation of the newly-discovered tumour-suppressor LACTB, i.e. a protein that stops tumours from forming, and its possible use in anti-tumour therapy," says Dr. Zuzana Kečkéšová. "Thanks to the secure financing, we will, however, be able to pay attention to other tumour-suppressors that I discovered together with LACTB when studying tissues not subject to cancer, but which I was not previously able to study in detail due to a lack of funding and people."

Daniel Georgiev

CEO of Sampling Human (formerly Xeno Cell)

"The costs of testing will be derived from the comprehensive nature of the examination. But if we only looked for carcinogenic cells, our diagnostics could cost approximately a tenth of the current price," estimates CEO Daniel Georgiev, who thinks that Xeno Cell could lead to big changes in healthcare. "People could go for regular preventative testing of their cells," says Georgiev of the future. (e15.cz, 15 June 2020)

Martin Herman

Co-founder of Powerful Medical

"We are also working on algorithms that will be able to forecast the risk of an acute heart attack based on an ECG. In this way our application will contribute to much more effective management of this frequent complication," said Robert Herman, Chief Medical Officer at Powerful Medical. (cc.cz, 30 September 2022)

Martin Dienstbier

Co-founder of Diana Biotechnologies

"There is a lot of talk about the need for innovation, support for industry. Everybody immediately thinks about factories and machine tools. But not many people realise that pharmaceuticals is also an industry, one of the most modern and innovative. And they forget that the development of drugs includes a number of steps in pre-clinical research and development before it is time for clinical studies with actual patients in hospitals," said the molecular biologist. (Ekonom, 9 June 2022)