Michal Novak - Biography#
It was in early 1985 when Michal Novak, driven by his insatiable appetite for knowledge, joined the team comprising three Nobel Laureates in Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. In the midst of a molecular biology revolution, this UK star team has focused on global menace - Alzheimer’s disease. Young Michal Novak, using his recently gained skills in creation of monoclonal antibodies, was eager to contribute to understanding and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
First major breakthrough came after two years of hard work in 1988, when monoclonal antibody constructed by Michal Novak became the essential instrument in the identification of key brain molecule – tau protein- as a prime candidate for the causative molecule of Alzheimer’s disease. This discovery was presented at the first International Conference of Alzheimer’s disease in Las Vegas (USA). The presentation was entrusted to Michal Novak as an acknowledgement of his crucial contribution.
After returning home in 1994 he continued his work on Alzheimer’s disease pathological proteins and has identified and postulated the key role of truncated tau proteins (as tauons) in the initiation and development of the brain wasting tau pathology in AD. Realizing the need for a complex national force to fight Alzheimer’s disease, Michal Novak founded research institute – Institute of Neuroimmunology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 1996 and became his first director. Later the Institute of Neuroimmunology became the Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases (AD Centre). AD CENTRUM has identified and united prominent sites in Slovakia to support each other (basic research – clinical sites – diagnostic centre – swift forwarding of results from science to the citizen) and under the leadership of Michal Novak addresses crucial scientific questions in society in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.
Michal Novak recently proposed and developed the Slovak National Program to Combat Alzheimer´s Disease, which represent one of his major ambition - to combat this devastating disease.
