The Director of the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Prof. Marek Svoboda, M.D., Ph.D., has become a member of the expert committee of the Cancer Mission within the Horizon Europe programme. The European Commission announced a call for top experts for the Mission Boards in January this year and published the results of the selection procedures on 6 September 2022. Marek Svoboda will serve on the Cancer Mission Board from September 2022 and will have the opportunity to influence issues in cancer research and the direction of oncology at European level.

The Missions are an essential part of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and are intended to enable coordinated and flexible solutions to current societal issues. In addition to cancer, there are also Missions on - climate neutral and smart cities, adaptation to climate change, recovery and regeneration of Europe's marine and freshwater ecosystems, and healthy soil and food. The specific focus of each Mission is based on the recommendations of experts working in the Mission Boards. Each committee has 15 experts and Prof. Svoboda will be the first representative of the Czech Republic on the Mission Cancer committee. During his term of office he would like to benefit from his experience as a physician and scientist from the Czech and international environment. At the same time, he would like to strengthen the awareness of the Cancer Mission among the Czech professional and non-professional public.

Prof. Marek Svoboda graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University in Brno in 2001.  As a physician and researcher he specializes in oncology and genetics. During his career, he has worked, among others, at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in the U.S. His scientific work has been awarded three times with the Minister of Health Award for Medical Research and Development. He is a member of the Committee of the Czech Cancer Society and the Accreditation Committee of the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI).