Who we are
Who we are and what we do
Institute of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics of the General University Hospital and of The First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague is an integrated educational, research and health care institution performing analyses in the fields of clinical biochemistry, haematology, microbiology, immunology and cytogenetics, involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students and participating in selected scientific research projects. The Institute has approximately 320 employees including 60 university or technical college graduates. The main laboratory part is situated in the main campus of General University Hospital in Prague - U Nemocnice 2, the educational and research part is located in Katerinska Street 32.
Scope of Services and Capabilities
In the sphere of routine analyses, complex services are rendered including: analyses in general and clinical chemistry, haematology, microbiology, immunology, cytogenetics , both in routine and statim modes. The Institute deals with a wide spectrum of routine and unique laboratory procedures and is equipped with high-output analyzers for routine measurements and with specific instruments for molecular diagnostics and research, e.g. GC-MS, HPLC, gene sequenator, PCR, Metapher, MALDI-TOP etc.
In 1985 the National Reference Laboratory for Clinical Biochemistry of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic was incorporated into the Institute. The Laboratory is charged with the supervision of interlaboratory quality control in clinical biochemistry for the whole Czech Republic. It introduces and develops reference materials and methods and serves the role of expertise in the committed areas.
In the field of education the Institute is the single institution of The First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague combining teaching of biochemistry, pathobiochemistry and clinical biochemistry for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th years of medical studies. Its members participate in a broad spectrum of lectures for bachelor courses as well and organize interdisciplinary courses of specific subjects for students of the Chemical Technological University in Prague (Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague) in the specialization "biomedical engineering".
The Institute plays also an important role in postgraduate scientific education and more than 30 PhD students are working on their theses in different areas of biochemistry, immunology and molecular biology.
The Institute participates also in the qualification („specialization“) courses for medical doctors and in further education of non-medical graduates.
Concerning research, the members of the Institute are involved mainly in the projects administered by Grant Agencies of the Czech Republic and participate also in other European and overseas international projects.The main reaserch topics are: molecular mechanisms of metabolic diseases, immunochemistry, tumour markers, circulating tumour cells, coagulation pathways, redox and cell signalling, oxidative stress, neuropharmacology, cytogenetics, reproductive immunology and inflammatory pathways.
