The assistant professor of the Faculty of General Medicine of the University of Debrecen received a prestigious award

Csaba Matta, assistant professor at the Faculty of General Medicine of the University of Debrecen, received a talent award. The National Academy of Science Education (NTA) recognized the outstanding scientific activity of the researcher with the award.

Csaba Matta, assistant professor at the Department of Anatomy, Tissue and Development of the University of Debrecen, was awarded for his work to explore the gene expression pattern of cartilage formation and promote cartilage regeneration procedures.

I was very surprised when I found out that this year I won the Talentum award among the professionals of the University of Debrecen. I feel it is a great honor that I, after last year’s awardee Lóránt Székvölgyi, also received this recognition. Of course, the award is not solely my merit, as all research is a team effort. I would also like to thank the members of my research group for working together, as the merit is shared. The recognition also shows that what we do is worth doing

Csaba Matta, assistant professor at the Faculty of General Medicine of the University of Debrecen, told hirek.unideb.hu.

Csaba Matta is currently the head of the Chondro-omics research group. The aim of the research group is to examine the molecular processes of cartilage formation from a global perspective. Their research is currently focused on the investigation of the cell surface protein composition (which we call the surfaceome) of differentiating chondrocytes and the discovery of new biomarkers.

We would also like to continue our research in this direction, and thanks to my wide international collaboration network, we would like to become more and more involved in the study of cells from osteoarthritic joints

– added the specialist.

Csaba Matta graduated from the University of Debrecen in 2004, majoring in molecular biology and English translation. He worked on his PhD topic at the Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Development. The research was aimed at studying the calcium signaling pathways of differentiating chondrocytes. After obtaining his PhD, he applied abroad, and between 2014 and 2016, with a Marie Sklodowska-Curie scholarship, he worked in Ali Mobasheri’s research group at the University of Surrey, England, where he studied the ion channel composition and their function of cartilage progenitor cells from an osteoarthritic knee joint. At the end of the two-year scholarship, he returned to the University of Debrecen, and in 2018 he won the Premium postdoctoral scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In doing so, he investigated whether mechanical stimuli are able to synchronize the biological clock of differentiating chondrocytes.

The Talentum award was established in 2013 by the National Medical Biology Foundation. The researcher worthy of recognition is selected by the foundation’s board of trustees and the professional management of the National Academy of Science Education. Four researchers earned the recognition this year.

(unideb.hu)