doc. RNDr. Michal Vinkler, Ph.D.

Area of expertise: evolutionary and ecological immunology; evolutionary immunogenetics; behavioural ecology; evolution of host-parasite interactions; avian immunology.

Research Interests: My research focuses on genetic adaptations that drive disease resistance in animals. Our team integrates evolutionary concepts with functional predictions and testing to study immune defence variation across transcriptomic, proteomic, cellular, and organismal levels. Specializing in avian immunology, we investigate inflammation, immune gene evolution, and host-microbiota interactions, with a particular focus on passerines and parrots. I have a long-standing collaboration with U.S. colleagues Dana M. Hawley (Virginia Tech) and James S. Adelman (University of Memphis), studying the coevolutionary interactions between house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) and bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum. I have contributed to several monographs, including Avian Immunology (3rd ed.).

Teaching: I teach courses combining evolutionary biology with molecular biology and immunology, such as namely the Basics of Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary and Ecological Immunology. Since 2022 I serve as the guarantor of the master study program Evolutionary Biology.