In order to better manage crisis situations associated with sudden infections in the future, the National Institute of Virology and Bacteriology is being established in the Czech Republic. It will be a robust network that will connect three dozen top research teams from workplaces across the country, including scientists from Palacký University.
The National Institute of Virology and Bacteriology is to be the Czech equivalent of the German Robert Koch Institute, the federal institute for disease control and prevention. It is intended to connect researchers and improve the coordination of their capacities in managing new epidemics. The role of the national institute will be to provide expert opinion and consultation to the country's leaders, which is crucial for an effective response and protection of the population's health. The research of the participating workplaces will focus on three main areas: the study of the interaction between viruses or bacteria and the host, the study of the immune response of the infected organism, and the development of new diagnostic tools and drugs against infectious diseases.
The full article is available in Czech here.