The team of doc. Rusz's award-winning project tested the types of speech disorders in patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease and the impact of drugs on these disorders. The research related to Parkinson's disease was conducted by Assoc. Rusz, who works both at the Faculty of Medicine and at the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, has long been involved in the research.
In addition to research on acoustic analysis of speech in patients, Rusz's group has recently developed a method of automatic video analysis of facial expressions when patients speak. Video analysis can catch Parkinson's disease at an early stage. Details of the research of the team of Assoc. Rusz can be read here.
The second award-winning project focused on an innovative and personalized approach in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of severe epilepsy using novel electrophysiological, neuroimaging and molecular genetic methods. Dr. Janča led a working group of engineers and physicians who were able to distinguish from the electrical activity of the brain the areas responsible for the onset of seizures from healthy areas. Using computer processing of head and brain images (CT, MRI), procedures were designed to improve the accuracy and safety of neurosurgical procedures. More information about the project can be found here.
The expert evaluation panels of the Agency for Health Research of the Czech Republic proposed a total of 18 projects whose results were considered to be of the highest quality for the award of the Minister of Health Award for Health Research and Development for 2023. Five groups were then awarded the main prize, the Minister of Health Award, for their projects, while the remaining teams have an Honorable Mention from the Minister of Health. The awards were presented on 12 December in Prague.