FUČÍK, J. Hodnocení výskytu vybraných léčivých látek v půdním ekosystému [online]. Brno: Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta chemická. 2025.
Ing. Jan Fučík focused his doctoral thesis on a current topic, because the pharmaceutical residues and their metabolites in soil pose risks not only to human health (intake of these micropollutants through food, potential contribution to the development of antimicrobial resistence), but also to the soil biota and thus to the quality and functioning of the entire soil ecosystem. In his work he dealt not only with the development of multiresidue analytical methods, assessment of pharmaceutical uptake and effect on both humans and soil biota, as well as the investigation of pharmaceutical sources of (e.g. animal manure, wastewater) and potential elimination strategies. The five research objectives that have been set for the dissertation were systematically fulfilled and achieved and can contribute to filling the gaps in this issue. I only give a few examples here: Robust, multiresidue extraction methods which enable comprehensive assessment of over 40 pharmaceuticals across therapeutic groups in diverse environmental and biological matrices were developed. As well as novel high-throughput workflow for pharmaceutical metabolite identification was developed using only freely available open-source software. Analysed pharmaceutical metabolites in lettuce and earthworms and revealed that their concentrations can exceed those of the parent compounds, suggesting the need to include metabolites and degradation products in environmental and health risk assessment Based on the results of laboratory bioaccumulation experiments, he proposed an innovative approach that allows the prediction of drug residue concentrations in biota based on the detected level of soil pollution. As far as I can judge from my many years of experience, I have never met such an active and goal- orientated student. He quickly became familiar with the topic and mastered analytical techniques such as LC-MS, LC-HRMS, and MALDI-MS, as well as purposeful designing and carrying out experiments, including data interpretation. Ing. Jan Fučík is very independent, and despite his young age, demonstrates a remarkably mature understanding of scientific problems. He has also significantly contributed to the promotion of both the Faculty and the Institute, most notably through his successful participation in the prestigious international Shimadzu Lab4you project. As part of this, he completed a three-month research internship at Shimadzu Europa GmbH in Duisburg, Germany, where he used advanced analytical instrumentation to generate additional data for his Ph.D. project. He subsequently used these results in extraordinary publication activity beyond the obligations of his doctoral studies. He is the author and co-author of 17 peer-reviewed publications in impacted journals (14 in Q1journals and 3x in Q2-Q3 journals. Most of these deal with environmental issues related to pharmaceutical residues in the soil ecosystem. I must also highlight his presentation skill; he participated in several conferences and seminars, where he successfully presented not only this important environmental topic but also our university. In 2024, he received the Dean's Award for excellent academic results in the doctoral study programme. In addition, he was involved in environmental education and activities at our university. During our collaboration, Jan has consistently demonstrated excellent work ethic, independence, but also the ability to collaborate and communicate openly. He has proven to be highly flexible, open, efficient at work, and at the same time modest, fair, and professional. Given these qualities, it has been a great pleasure for me to work with him. The above allows me to state that the student Ing. Jan Fučík has fulfilled all the requirements of the full-time form of study within the doctoral study programme, has demonstrated creative ability in the given field of research. The dissertation meets all the set objectives. For this reason, I recommend the thesis for defense and then the award of the Ph.D.
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