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Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Oľga Pecháňová, DSc., from the Centre of Experimental Medicine of the Slovak Academy of Sciences has received the Murad Award, presented to individuals for their leadership in the development and application of new medical methods and technologies. She received the award at the Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit 2025, held in November in the Philippines.

The international non-profit organization FLOGEN Stars Outreach, based in Canada, which supports research, innovation and sustainability within the Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit (SIPS) project, has long cooperated with international academic and industrial institutions and, through the organization of SIPS, creates space for interdisciplinary dialogue in science, technology and engineering. Based on proposals from an international committee, this organization awards the prestigious Murad International Life Improvement Award to individuals who occupy leading positions in the development and application of new medical methods and technologies and whose scientific work significantly contributes to the advancement of new knowledge with the potential to improve health and quality of life.

The award is named after Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1998) Prof. Ferid Murad, who, together with Robert F. Furchgott and Louis Ignarro, became renowned for the pioneering discovery of the signaling role of nitric oxide (NO) in the cardiovascular system – a discovery that has had a global impact on medicine.

At this year's event, the Murad Award was presented to Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Oľga Pecháňová, DSc., from the Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology of the Centre of Experimental Medicine of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, for her important scientific contribution in the field of experimental cardiovascular physiology, published in prestigious international journals and long cited by the international scientific community. At the congress, which also featured several Nobel Prize laureates, Assoc. Prof. Pecháňová delivered a plenary lecture devoted to the modulation of oxidative stress in experimental cardiometabolic models. The lecture attracted exceptional attention, also in connection with the author's long-term research on the effects of nitric oxide, oxidative stress and their roles in physiology and pathophysiology.

The award also reflects her many years of work in nitric oxide research, which led to the creation of an independent research team, today’s Department of Neurocardiovascular Interactions of the INPP, CEM SAS, which Assoc. Prof. Pecháňová heads. She is also behind the organization of successful international NO symposia, including the first event in 1999, which was attended by leading experts from around the world. She is the author of more than 200 publications in major international scientific journals, which have been cited more than 4,800 times, and she is the principal investigator of several national and international projects. The Murad International Life Improvement Award represents significant recognition of her work in the field of cardiovascular physiology and her long-term contribution to the development of research in this scientific discipline.

Prepared by: Fedor Jagla, Jana Kimijanová, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences

Photo: SIPS 2025