Radiobiology researcher Lucián Zastko of the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Ružomberok has received the Danubius Young Scientist Award. It was presented at a gala of the Danube Rectors’ Conference at Angel Kanchev University of Ruse in Bulgaria.
The award has been granted since 2014 by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research and the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, recognising one young scientist each year from each of the 14 countries of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. Zastko is the first Slovak scientist in medical sciences to receive it.
He studies how ionising radiation affects human cells, for example by estimating radiation dose from chromosome damage in lymphocytes and using a human body model to simulate radiotherapy. The aim is to better understand how cancer treatments affect healthy cells and to help doctors decide who needs priority care after a radiation accident.
