Professor Karel Pacák founded a nationally and internationally recognized research program focused 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. His laboratory here has produced major scientific findings and publications in this area over the past 25 years.
Professor Pacak is a co-founder of the International Symposium on Pheochromocytoma (ISP), a series of international conferences that have facilitated the development of exceptional collaborations between the United States and other countries. He served as the first president of the ISP in 2005 and was re-elected to that position in 2022. He has been instrumental in expanding international collaboration in this field through his involvement with the Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma Alliance, the Asian Alliance for the Study of Neuroendocrine Tumors, PRESSOR (Pheochromocytoma Research and Support Organization), the Endocrine Hypertension Working Group, the European Society of Hypertension, and the American-Australian-Asian Adrenal Alliance (A5).
In 2012, Professor Pacak and others supported and promoted the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project for pheochromocytoma at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at NIH, which to this day represents one of the most extensive molecular biology studies of this disease nationally and internationally. Professor Pacak is one of the most cited researchers in the field of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, with his work reaching more than 4,000 citations per year. He has received a number of prestigious awards for his contributions to endocrinology and oncology.
Education:
- 1984: 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, M.D., General Medicine (Summa cum laude)
- 1987: 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, 3rd Internal Medicine Clinic, Prague, Czech Republic, professional certification in internal medicine
- 1993: 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, PhD (formerly CSc.), neuroendocrinology
- 1998: MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA, professional certification in medicine
- 1999: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, professional certification in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism
- 1999: 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, 3rd Internal Medicine Clinic, Prague, Czech Republic, professional certification in endocrinology
- 1999: 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, 3rd Internal Clinic, Prague, Czech Republic, DSc, neuroendocrinology
- 2015: American Association of Clinical Endcrinology (AAC): American College of Endocrinology, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, FACE, endocrinology
- 2015: Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, Doctor honoris causa (Dhc)
Professional experience:
- 1984-1987: 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, 3rd Internal Medicine Clinic, Resident
- 1987-1990: 1st 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 Center, Washington, DC, USA, Residency training in internal medicine program
- 1997-1999: Inter-Institute Endocrinology Training Program in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Clinician
- 1999-2000: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Senior Scientist
- 2000-2005: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Chief of Clinical Neuroendocrinology
- 2003-2005: 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, External Associate Professor
- 2005-2008: Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA External Professor
- 2005-2024: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Senior Clinical and Research Scientist, Division of Medical Neuroendocrinology
- 2006-present: 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Professor
- 2015-2024: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Chief, Developmental Endocrinology and Cancer 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, Group Leader, Developmental Endocrinology, Metabolism, Genetics and Endocrine Oncology
- 2024-present: Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA, External Professor
- 2024-present: Center for Adrenal Endocrine Tumors, AKESO POLYCLINIC, Medical Director
- 2024-present: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Honorary Scientist Emeritus
Distinguished Awards:
- 1984: Rector's Award of Charles University, For Outstanding Academic and Scientific Achievement, Charles University, Prague, Czechoslovak Republic
- 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 Award of Merit, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- 2014: NICHD/NIH Director 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 Association, 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
