prof. RNDr. Silvia Pastoreková, DrSc.
Director General
Research interest and impact:
Molecular biology of cancer with focus on the role of hypoxia and acidosis in cancer progression, and molecular mechanisms underlying pH regulation, metabolic adaptation and cell adhesion in cancer:
- principal contribution to identification, molecular and functional characterization of carbonic anhydrase IX (MN/CA IX), a marker of tumor hypoxia, prognostic indicator and promising therapy target; including key experimental evidences for CA IX role in extracellular acidosis, in metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells in response to stresses in tumor microenvironment, in cell adhesion, migration, invasion and metastatic dissemination
- production and characterization of CA IX-specific monoclonal antibodies currently used for immunohistochemical detection of MN/CA IX in tumor specimens, evaluated for prediction of treatment outcome, and under development for cancer immunotherapy
Education and academic career:
- Director of the Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences (since 2016)
- Senior Scientist and Head of the Department of Tumor Biology, BMC SAS (2016-2019)
- Senior Scientist and Member of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Virology, SAS (2000-2015)
- Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Virology, SAS (1992-1998)
- Professor in Molecular Biology at the Comenius University in Bratislava, SK (2011)
- in Experimental Oncology Slovak Academy of Sciences (2003)
- in Virology, Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava (1992)
- RNDr. (Doctor of Natural Sciences), Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Bratislava, SK (1985)
Publications/citations:
Web of Science (All databases) record on 19-04-2022:
305 results (including 227 original articles, 27 reviews, and 37 patents), 10 203 times cited (without self-citations)
H-index 57, > 35 invited lectures at international meetings, including the prestigious Keystone symposium on Hypoxia: Molecules, Mechanisms and Diseases on January 19-23, 2020 (hosting all three 2019 Nobel prize winners)
Patents:
Co-inventor of US patent “MN Gene and Protein” (Zavada, Pastorekova, Pastorek) number 5,384,676 issued in 1995 and Continuation-in-part patents/applications related to different uses of MN protein (now named carbonic anhydrase IX, CA IX) for cancer diagnostics and therapy, for details see patents listed in Web of Science (All databases)
Awards:
- Award of the Slovak Academy of Sciences for the research activities (2003)
- “Crystal Wing” in Medicine and Science category (prestigious national award for outstanding achievements, 2006)
- “Slovak Woman of the Year” in Science and education category (2009)
- Award of the Academy of Education of the Slovak Republic for science popularization (2010)
- State decoration “Rad Ľudovíta Štúra” for the advancement of science in Slovakia awarded by the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová (2020)
Molecular biology of cancer with focus on the role of hypoxia and acidosis in cancer progression, and molecular mechanisms underlying pH regulation, metabolic adaptation and cell adhesion in cancer:
- principal contribution to identification, molecular and functional characterization of carbonic anhydrase IX (MN/CA IX), a marker of tumor hypoxia, prognostic indicator and promising therapy target; including key experimental evidences for CA IX role in extracellular acidosis, in metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells in response to stresses in tumor microenvironment, in cell adhesion, migration, invasion and metastatic dissemination
- production and characterization of CA IX-specific monoclonal antibodies currently used for immunohistochemical detection of MN/CA IX in tumor specimens, evaluated for prediction of treatment outcome, and under development for cancer immunotherapy
Education and academic career:
- Director of the Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences (since 2016)
- Senior Scientist and Head of the Department of Tumor Biology, BMC SAS (2016-2019)
- Senior Scientist and Member of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Virology, SAS (2000-2015)
- Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Virology, SAS (1992-1998)
- Professor in Molecular Biology at the Comenius University in Bratislava, SK (2011)
- in Experimental Oncology Slovak Academy of Sciences (2003)
- in Virology, Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava (1992)
- RNDr. (Doctor of Natural Sciences), Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Bratislava, SK (1985)
Publications/citations:
Web of Science (All databases) record on 19-04-2022:
305 results (including 227 original articles, 27 reviews, and 37 patents), 10 203 times cited (without self-citations)
H-index 57, > 35 invited lectures at international meetings, including the prestigious Keystone symposium on Hypoxia: Molecules, Mechanisms and Diseases on January 19-23, 2020 (hosting all three 2019 Nobel prize winners)
Patents:
Co-inventor of US patent “MN Gene and Protein” (Zavada, Pastorekova, Pastorek) number 5,384,676 issued in 1995 and Continuation-in-part patents/applications related to different uses of MN protein (now named carbonic anhydrase IX, CA IX) for cancer diagnostics and therapy, for details see patents listed in Web of Science (All databases)
Awards:
- Award of the Slovak Academy of Sciences for the research activities (2003)
- “Crystal Wing” in Medicine and Science category (prestigious national award for outstanding achievements, 2006)
- “Slovak Woman of the Year” in Science and education category (2009)
- Award of the Academy of Education of the Slovak Republic for science popularization (2010)
- State decoration “Rad Ľudovíta Štúra” for the advancement of science in Slovakia awarded by the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová (2020)