Jan Dobeš
Honza was born in Valašské Meziříčí and grew up in Moravian Wallachia, where his roots run deep in the local soil. He pursued his Ph.D. at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Prague, working in Dominik Filipp’s laboratory on immune tolerance and intestinal autoimmunity. He then joined Jakub Abramson’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science for his postdoctoral training, where he studied host–pathogen interactions and the role of innate lymphoid cells in regulating adaptive immune responses.
In 2021, he became a principal investigator in the Department of Cell Biology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. In 2025, he was promoted to the rank of associate professor.
Jarmila Sekerešová Králová
Jarka was born and raised in Třebíč, Czech Republic. She earned her Master of Science degree in Pharmacy at Charles University in Hradec Králové. Following this, she moved to Prague to undertake her Ph.D. studies in Immunology. During this period, she conducted her research at the Laboratory of Tomáš Brdička, situated at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Driven by her passion for studying mononuclear phagocytes, she embarked on a postdoctoral journey by joining the laboratory of Professor Steffen Jung at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Her primary research interests encompass investigating the roles of mononuclear phagocytes in both health and disease, exploring host-fungal interactions, and delving into the regulation of immune responses.
Valéria Grobárová
Valika was born in Bardejov, Slovakia. After completing her master’s degree in the academic field Biology at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, she continued her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in the Immunology program. She pursued her PhD studies at the Institute of Microbiology, AS CR, v. v. i., where she worked in the Laboratory of Natural Immunity focusing on research related to the role of glycoconjugates in antitumor immune response. During her PhD studies, she completed an internship at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, US. Her research goal was focused on biocompatibility testing of fluorescent nanodiamonds as a promising delivery system for anticancer drugs.
She subsequently continued as a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Cell Immunology, led by Jan Černý, at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. Her main interest was the characterization of the transgenerational cell transfer via mother’s milk involving entero-mammary pathway. She also focused on the study of the biocompatibility testing of new fungal secondary metabolites with potential anticancer activity. During these years she did an internship in the laboratory of Marianne Boes at the Department of Pediatric Immunology and Laboratory of Translational Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, where she participated in the study of novel pathogenic mutations found in patients with CVID that contribute to altered T-cell phenotypes.
Her current main research objective is focused on the study of the intestinal epithelium, a crucial coordinating hub for maintaining gut homeostasis and promoting host defense.
Katarína Kováčová
Katka hails from Prešov, Slovakia, where she spent her formative years. Her academic journey started with a Bachelor of Science degree in general biology, followed by a Master of Science degree in genetic and molecular cytology. She pursued these studies at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia.
Her professional career as a laboratory technician took off at Loschmidt Laboratories in Brno, where the focus was on specialized research in protein engineering. Later, she moved to Prague, where she assumed the role of a research assistant in Zbyněk Kozmik’s laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Under the guidance of Ondřej Machoň, their research centered on the transcription factor Meis2 and its functions in the embryonic development of both zebrafish and mice.
Martina Dobešová
Following her studies at the Faculty of Science in Prague, Martina commenced her career as a lab technician in Dominik Filipp’s Laboratory of Immunobiology. Her tenure there spanned 13 years, with the only interruption being a period of maternity leave and the work in Noam Stern-Ginossar’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Upon returning to Prague, her desire to spend more time with her husband led her to join his lab :-).
Helena Böhmová
Helča is from Prague, Czech Republic. She studied molecular biology as a BSc student and then immunology as a MSc student at the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague. She wrote her bachelor’s thesis in the Reproductive Biology research group in BIOCEV, and has joined our laboratory for her MSc studies, where she now continues for her PhD studies. Her main research interests include anti-fungal immunity, host-microbe interactions and mucosal immunology.
Evgeny Valter
Evžen was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. He moved to Prague to study medicine at the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. During his studies he joined up Dominik Filipp’s research group at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, where he had developed a keen interest in mucosal immunity. He now pursues his PhD studies un Immunology with the focus on host-commensal microbe interactions and autoimmunity along with residency training in internal medicine.
Jan Věcek
Honza was born in Jablonec nad Nisou and spent his childhood in a village near Hradec Králové. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and pursued his Master’s degree in Immunology, both at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague.
During his Master’s program, Jan conducted research in the group of Jiří Hrdý at the Institute of Immunology and Microbiology at the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague. He also gained valuable experience through an internship in the laboratory of Mihai Netea at Radboudumc in the Netherlands.
Jan is a core member of the Czech Young Immunologists. His primary research focus revolves around gaining a comprehensive understanding of host-microbe interactions in tissue contexts.
Iva Pacáková
Iva was born and raised in Brno, Czech Republic. She moved to Prague, where she started studying general biology at the Faculty of Science of Charles University. She completed her BSc and MSc studies in the laboratory of Jan Dobeš, where she wrote her Bachelor and Master thesis. Now she continues her PhD studies in Immunology. Her research mainly focuses on mucosal immunology and the host-commensal microbe interactions.
Mayka Galarza
Mayka grew up in Arizona, USA, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Genetics, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She continued her studies at ASU and earned her masters degree in Biology. Throughout her time at ASU, she worked at the Florsheim Lab where she initially learned about mast cell research. Intrigued with their potential additional functionality, she completed her masters thesis on how mast cells respond to toxic stimuli from various origins. Upon completion of her masters degree, she decided to leave Arizona and move to Prague, where her mom is originally from. She is now pursuing her PhD studies in Immunology with a focus on interactions between gut cells and bacteria, researching the role of intraepithelial lymphocytes in maintaining gut health and immune balance.
Vasilisa Sevostianova
Vasilisa was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. She later moved to Nijmegen, the
Netherlands, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences. For her
bachelor’s thesis, she joined the Lab of Innate Immunity at Institut Curie in Paris,
where she contributed to a project investigating the aging process of Langerhans cells (immune cells of the epidermis), and developed a passion for immunology.
During her studies, she also spent an Erasmus semester at Charles University in
Prague. She is now pursuing her Master’s degree in Immunology at Charles
University, and joined the lab to explore host-microbiome interaction in the skin.
Zuzana Buchová
Zuzka is from Prague, Czech Republic. She began her research journey during high school through the Open Science internship program, working in Hana Cahová’s lab at IOCB, where she studied new RNA modifications. She continued her research on dinucleoside polyphosphate RNA and participated in Student Professional Activities with a project focused on this topic. She presented her work at the Regeneron ISEF 2023 science fair in Dallas.
She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Science at Charles University and joined our lab in her second year. Her research focuses on the autoimmune regulator Aire, specifically its splicing variants and their role.
Eliška Čadová
Eliška is a bachelor’s student of General Biology at Charles University, originally from Prague. After realizing that medicine wasn’t the right fit for her, she decided to pursue her growing interest in immunology and the microbiota. She is currently getting oriented in the lab and looks forward to exploring how host–microbiota interactions shape immune responses.
Alumni
Tomáš Brabec (2021 – 2024)
Tomáš’s primary research interests in the laboratory revolved around mucosal immunology, exploring host-microbe interactions, and investigating the role of the intestinal epithelium in both host defense and the modulation of immune responses. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Clarissa Campbell laboratory at The Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, Austria.
Jana Liberdová (2021 – 2023)
Jana, a former master’s student, conducted research in a laboratory where her focus was on studying how B-cells respond to Candida albicans. She has since moved on to her current position at SZÚ, where she works in the Department of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
Photos: Petr Jan Juračka