RNDr. Zuzana Lhotská

Position 1

Job Position: PhD Student - Laboratory of parasitic therapy
Department: Opportunistic Disease
Workplace: Institute of Parasitology

Position 2

Job Position: Technician - Laboratory of parasitic therapy
Department: Opportunistic Disease
Workplace: Institute of Parasitology

Contact details

Phone: +420 38 777 5420
E-mail: zuzana.lhotska@paru.cas.cz
Room: 132

Others

Description:

Brief Profile

Zuzana decided in the first year of university studies (University of South Bohemia – USB) to perform her bachelor and then her master thesis in the Laboratory of Parasitic Therapy (BC CAS). There, she focused her research on the gut protist Blastocystis which role in human health is still unclear. During her undergraduate studies, she received two grants from the Student Grant Agency of USB, which she successfully defended. The first project associated with the bachelor topic was focused on in vitro axenization of Blastocystis and in the second project (in the master study) on the epidemiological study with emphasis on the occurrence of Blastocystis in gut-healthy human population in the Czech Republic. Zuzana also participated in other Blastocystis laboratory projects. She is currently a PhD student and is still involved in Blastocystis research (functional changes in genome during host colonization).

CV:

Education:

• 8/2019 – present: Ph.D. student; University of South Bohemia (USB; Faculty of Science) and Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (BC CAS); program - Infectious Biology
• 2019: State rigorous exam in Parasitology (=RNDr. – doctor of life sciences)
• 9/2017 – 6/2019: master studies at USB; program - Parasitology
• 9/2013 – 6/2017: bachelor studies at USB; program - Biology
• 2009 – 2013: Secondary Vocational School of Veterinary, Mechanization and Horticulture - veterinary field

Career outline:

• 1/2020 – present: PhD position, Laboratory of Parasitic Therapy; Institute of Parasitology (BC CAS)
• 12/2014 – 12/2019: technician, Laboratory of Parasitic Therapy; Institute of Parasitology (BC CAS)
• 9/2017 – 6/2019: diploma thesis, Laboratory of Parasitic Therapy (BC CAS) entitled 'Study of Blastocystis in human microbiome'
• 9/2013 – 6/2017: bachelor thesis in the Laboratory of Parasitic Therapy (BC CAS) entitled 'Axenization of intestinal protist of the genus Blastocystis'

Further work experience: 

• molecular biology, molecular diagnostics and cloning (gained within master studies)
• sequences, sequence alignments and phylogeny (gained within master studies)
• experimental work with laboratory animals 
• axenic and xenic cultivation methods for intestinal protozoa
• coproscopic techniques for the detection of intestinal parasites
• non-invasive sampling and other common laboratory methods

Projects & internship

• 2018: PI of the project supported by the Student Grant Agency (SGA) of the Faculty of Science of USB, entitled 'Study of Blastocystis in Human Microbiome'
• 6 –7/2017: a short-term internship at the University of British Columbia (Canada): CD4 T-cell transfer model of colitis; Department of Microbiology and Immunology; under the direction of Lisa Osborne Ph.D.;
• 2015: PI of the project supported by the Student Grant Agency (SGA) of the Faculty of Science of the USB, entitled 'Introduction of a Suitable Experimental in vitro Model for the Study of Intestinal Protozoa of the Genus Blastocystis¨

Supplementary education: 

• 2020 –The Workshop on Genomics in Český Krumlov