Serbia once again has its representatives in the finals of the 12th “International Medis Awards for Medical Research”, a prestigious regional prize often referred to as the medical Oscar. Among the 18 best researchers from 11 countries of Central and Eastern Europe are also two scientists from Serbia.
In competition with 246 scientific papers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and North Macedonia, the international expert jury selected two finalists in each of nine medical fields: gynecology, dermatology, pulmonology, neurology, pharmacology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, anesthesiology and rheumatology, according to a statement from the “International Medis Awards for Medical Research”.
This year, Serbia has a finalist in the field of pharmacology, Prof. Dr. Milica Bajčetić, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, and in the field of rheumatology, Dr. Sci. Med. Jelena Čolić from the Institute of Rheumatology.
After a record-breaking previous year, when Serbia had as many as seven finalists, three of whom won the award, this year’s placement once again confirms the continuity of high-quality domestic medical research on the regional stage.
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The research of Prof. Dr. Milica Bajčetić addresses a long-standing problem in the treatment of heart failure in young children – the lack of ready-made, age-appropriate oral medications for children under six years of age. Children with congenital heart defects or dilated cardiomyopathy often need therapy with drugs such as enalapril, but these medications for the youngest patients do not exist in an appropriate form. Therefore, therapy is often prepared by modifying drugs intended for adults, for example by crushing tablets, which can lead to imprecise dosing, difficulty adhering to therapy and potential safety risks.
“I am very pleased that the research has been recognized and nominated for the Medis award, because it shows how important the development of adequate therapeutic formulations for the youngest patients is. This study represents the first innovative formulation of enalapril, an oral dispersible minitablet (ODMT) that can be used by children aged 0 to 6 years with heart failure caused by congenital heart defects and dilated cardiomyopathy. The 2 mm mini tablet rapidly disintegrates and dissolves within 10 seconds upon contact with saliva, enabling safe and effective use even in newborns and infants who cannot swallow conventional tablets. The research, conducted within the European FP7 LENA project, showed that children accepted the therapy well and were willing to take it. In as many as 96 percent of cases, the drug was rated as having a pleasant or neutral taste, without a decrease in acceptability during repeated dosing. The innovative, standardized formulation of enalapril adapted for children simplifies therapy for parents and doctors, improves dosing precision, increases adherence and enables better treatment outcomes. The research results show that oral dispersible minitablets represent a safe and effective drug form for the youngest patients and can help improve the therapy of newborns and infants with heart failure,” emphasized Prof. Dr. Bajčetić.
In the field of rheumatology, Dr. Sci. Med. Jelena Čolić from the Institute of Rheumatology was nominated for the Medis award, having researched whether small particles in the blood can predict the worsening of lung disease in systemic sclerosis.
“First of all, I am overjoyed about the nomination, as it represents recognition of the importance of a topic backed by years of dedication. Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease with the highest mortality rate among rheumatologic conditions, and lung involvement is precisely the main cause of poor prognosis. In our research, we dealt with small particles in the blood, as I like to say, magical particles, the so-called extracellular vesicles, and showed that they may have the potential to predict not only which patients are at risk of lung involvement, but also which of them may develop aggressive, progressive worsening of systemic sclerosis. This is extremely important because, despite advances in diagnostics and therapy, a large number of patients are still not recognized early enough. The goal of the research is to identify patients at highest risk earlier through a simple blood analysis and to start therapy at the right moment. For patients, this would mean a better prognosis, higher quality of life and potentially prolonged lifespan, while providing doctors with an additional simple tool for making timely clinical decisions,” explained Dr. Čolić.
Prof. Dr. Jelena Drulović also took part in the work of the international jury, and together with the other members of the commission selected the 18 best papers. The winners will be announced on March 12 at a ceremony in Ljubljana, which will also be attended by the President of Slovenia.
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Source: N1; Foto: Privatna arhiva