Petra Vojáčková has become the first woman ever to receive a grant of CZK 6.6 million, which will allow her to start building her own team from January 2027. Her research group will focus on developing new strategies for molecular construction. In drug development, chemists face a fascinating challenge: molecules often exist in two mirror-image forms, much like a right and a left hand. While one form may have therapeutic effects, its mirror-image counterpart can be inactive or even produce toxic effects in the body. The young scientist is developing a new method that will make it possible to construct molecules in the laboratory so that only the desired mirror-image form is produced.
She has spent a significant part of her scientific career at Harvard University, where she published first-author papers in leading scientific journals such as Science and Nature. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Münster.
Speaking about the method she will further develop in Brno, she explains:
“When constructing molecules, we will not block the undesired mirror-image pathway, as most current methods do. Instead, using our new catalysts, we will facilitate the formation of the desired variant.”
The Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science is actively attracting young talent. Last year, Tomáš Fiala received a start-up grant from the Experientia Foundation and is already establishing his research group in Brno.