The Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) has added another significant achievement to its record in the field of interdisciplinary collaboration. The project, supported by the Czech Health Research Council (AZV), in which VRI scientists participated as co-investigators, was awarded first place and received the Dean’s Award of the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, for the best completed clinically oriented research project.
The award-winning project, entitled “Treatment of Infections Caused by Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Strains Using Novel Antibacterial Agents Based on Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptides,” addressed one of the most serious challenges in modern medicine—the growing resistance of bacteria to currently available antibiotics. The certificate for the main research team from St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno was presented by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, MU, Prof. MUDr. Martin Repko, Ph.D., to the principal investigator of the project, Prof. Filip Růžička.
A significant role in the project was played by the team from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine at VRI, consisting of RNDr. Lubomír Janda, Ph.D. (co-investigator of the project), Mgr. Antonín Pavelka, MVDr. Edita Jeklová, Ph.D., and Mgr. Petra Straková, Ph.D.
VRI played a key role in the development of a novel antimicrobial compound and in carrying out in vivo experiments on a porcine model of skin infection. Testing under conditions simulating real-world environments enabled considerable enhancement of the properties of the developed compound and the elimination of certain drawbacks that have thus far limited the practical application of antimicrobial peptides.
“I believe that our results will pave the way for new alternatives to antibiotic treatment in managing complicated soft tissue infections and skin wounds,” says Mgr. Antonín Pavelka.
The award confirms the importance of close collaboration between human and veterinary medicine and demonstrates that joint research can generate innovative solutions to current healthcare challenges with an impact on society as a whole.
Final publication of the project
The detailed research results were published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics and are available via DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2026.126992
