Karel Riha, a Young Investigator at the GMI, has been awarded the 2007 Novartis Research Prize in Biology. The Novartis Prize is awarded annually to outstanding young researchers in the fields of Medicine, Biology/Biochemistry and Chemistry working in Austria.
Karel Riha, who is from the Czech Republic, studied molecular biology and genetics at Masaryk University in Brno. A post-doc followed in the laboratory of Dorothy Shippen at the Texas A&M University in the USA. During his post-doc, Karel Riha studied the function of telomeres (chromosome ends) in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In 2003, Karel Riha joined the GMI and since 2005 has been leading his own research group at the institute where he continues to work in the field of chromosome biology. Recent successes include the development of a novel and sensitive method of detecting circular DNA molecules, which has been patented for its potential in the diagnosis of human cancer. This work was published in the prestigious journal Molecular Cell in the summer of 2007.
Contact:
Dr. Karel Riha Gregor Mendel Institute for Moleculare Plant Biology (GMI)
of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AAS)
Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna T (office): +43 1 79044-9840 T (lab): +43 1 79044-9841
Dr. Maria Siomos Gregor Mendel Institute for Moleculare Plant Biology (GMI)
of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AAS)
Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna T +43 1 79044-9101
maria.siomos(at)gmi.oeaw.ac.at
PR office of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna T +43 1 51581-1218, 1219, 1229, 1235 F +43 1 51581-1227 public.relations@oeaw.ac.at