AKESO POLICLINIC

In terms of medical specialties, the polyclinic focuses primarily on maternal, child and adolescent care. However, as a modern provider of diagnostic and outpatient care, we also provide selected health services for adult patients. AKESO POLICLINIC thus offers its services for the whole family, in a very pleasant environment, with state-of-the-art medical technology and digital operation - i.e. without unnecessary paperwork. Our polyclinic is a continuation of the medical care of the Hospital Hořovice and the Rehabilitation Hospital Beroun. Our facilities are contractual partners of all insurance companies.

prof. MUDr. Karel Pacák, DrSc., FACE, Dhc.

Professor Karel Pacák established a nationally and internationally recognised research programme focusing on patients with pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Over the past 25 years, his laboratory there has produced groundbreaking scientific findings and publications in this field.

Professor Pacák is a co-founder of the International Symposium on Pheochromocytoma (ISP), a series of international conferences that have fostered exceptional collaboration between the United States and other countries. In 2005, he served as the first president of the ISP and was re-elected to this post in 2022. He has played a significant role in expanding international collaboration in this field through his involvement with the Alliance for Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma, the Asian Alliance for the Study of Neuroendocrine Tumours, PRESSOR (Pheochromocytoma Research and Support Organisation), the Working Group on Endocrine Hypertension, the European Society of Hypertension and the American-Australian-Asian Adrenal Alliance (A5).

In 2012, Professor Pacák, together with others, supported and championed the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) for pheochromocytoma within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the NIH, which to this day remains one of the most extensive molecular biological studies of this disease at both national and international level. Professor Pacák is one of the most frequently cited scientists in the field of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, with his work receiving more than 4,000 citations annually. He has received a number of prestigious awards for his contributions to endocrinology and oncology.

Education:

1984: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, MUDr., general medicine (Summa cum laude)
1987: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Third Department of Internal Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic, specialist qualification in internal medicine
1993: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, PhD (formerly CSc.), neuroendocrinology
1998: MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA, specialist qualification in medicine
1999: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, specialist qualification in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism
1999: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Third Department of Internal Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic, specialist qualification in endocrinology
1999: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Third Department of Internal Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic, DSc, neuroendocrinology
2015: American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AAC): American College of Endocrinology, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, FACE, endocrinology
2015: Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, Doctor honoris causa (Dhc)

Professional experience:

1984–1987: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Third Department of Internal Medicine, Resident
1987–1990: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Clinical and Research Fellow
1990–1995: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Research Fellow
1995–1997: Department of Medicine, MedStar Washington Hospital Centre, Washington, DC, USA, Resident in the internal medicine training programme
1997–1999: Inter-Institute Endocrinology Training Programme in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Clinical Fellow
1999–2000: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Manager
2000–2005: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Head of the Department of Clinical Neuroendocrinology
2003–2005: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, External Associate Professor
2005–2008: Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA, Visiting Professor
2005–2024: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Senior Clinical and Research Fellow, Department of Medical Neuroendocrinology
2006–present: First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Professor
2015–2024: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Manager of the Developmental Endocrinology and Tumour Genetics Group
2016–present: American College of Endocrinology, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Member
2019–2024: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Manager of the Developmental Endocrinology, Metabolism, Genetics and Endocrine Oncology Group
2024–present: Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA, Visiting Professor
2024–present: Centre for Adrenal Endocrine Tumours, AKESO POLICLINIC, Medical Director
2024–present: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Honorary Research Fellow Emeritus

Major awards:

1984: Rector’s Award, Charles University, for outstanding academic and research achievements, Charles University, Prague, Czechoslovakia
2007: Peter Heimann Memorial Award, International Association of Endocrine Surgeons
2007: NIH Director Mentoring Award, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
2009: NICHD/NIH Director’s Award of Merit, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
2014: NICHD/NIH Director’s Award of Merit, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
2015: Outstanding Clinical Endocrinologist, American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
2016: Henry Friesen Award, Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ottawa, Canada
2018: Jan Evangelista Purkyně Medal, Czech Medical Society, Prague, Czech Republic
2022: Outstanding Clinical Investigator Award, US Endocrine Society, Washington, DC, USA
2022: Frontiers in Science and Distinction in Endocrinology Award, American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
2024: Foreign Member, Learned Society of the Czech Republic