Prof. Miroslav Penka - Annual Award Laureate 2024

Starting in 2009, the Board of the Czech Hemophilia Society decided to present its Annual Award. The Annual Award recipient is chosen by the Board based on nominations. The Annual Award is an expression of recognition and gratitude from the hemophilia community to someone who has contributed the most through help, ideas, performed an exceptional deed, or conversely worked for a long time on behalf of those in need. The laureate can be anyone from among healthcare professionals, members, sponsors, representatives of official institutions, supporters - in short, anyone who deserves the gratitude of the Society and its members for their extraordinary contribution or long-standing efforts.

Allow me to recall the previous laureates:

• MUDr. Zdena Vorlová (Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion)
• František Vondryska (former chairman and founder of the Czech Hemophilia Society)
• Michal Šťastný (former chairman and founder of the Czech Hemophilia Society)
• Veronika Čepeláková (Nurse at Motol University Hospital)
• Vladimír Dolejš (former chairman of the Czech Hemophilia Society)
• Silvie Bereňová (mother of a hemophilia patient, founder of Hemojunior)
• Václav Tóth (long-time economist of the Czech Hemophilia Society)
• Marita Roušarová (physiotherapist, organizer of rehabilitation retreats for adults)
• Petr Slunský (economist and chairman of the Audit Committee of the Czech Hemophilia Society)

The jubilee tenth laureate is a person who advanced the Czech school of hemophilia care significantly, and his successors today continue to draw from much of what he helped to establish. And so allow me to welcome among us Professor Miroslav Penka from the Department of Clinical Hematology at the University Hospital in Brno-Bohunice.

The professional career of Professor Miroslav Penka is fascinating and his contribution to the field of hematology is immense. If we were to focus on all his achievements, publications, projects, and involvement in various professional and scientific societies, we could spend a great deal of time just listing them.

Professor Penka played a key role in the development of hematology in the Czech Republic and his contribution to the care of hemophilia patients is indisputable. He was involved in building the field of hematology nationwide. He deserves particular thanks for developing the national concept of the Programme for the Care of Hemophilia Patients in the Czech Republic, according to which a network of facilities was established that today provides this care at a world-class level.

In 2011, the Czech National Hemophilia Programme (CNHP) was fully launched and firmly anchored in the Czech healthcare system. The entire project had been in preparation for nearly 4 years and Professor Penka was there at its inception. As one of its coordinators, he gradually guided the project through all obstacles and backed it with his expertise. His work and the work of other colleagues involved in the project was crowned with success when in autumn 2011, audits of hemophilia centers were conducted under the auspices of the Czech Hematological Society, the Czech Society for Thrombosis and Hemostasis, and the Czech Pediatric Society. A network of centers was created that, in accordance with the recommendations of the World Federation of Hemophilia and the European Principles of Hemophilia Care, provides high-quality care for people with hemophilia across the entire age spectrum.

Thanks to his professional qualities, Professor Penka is today among our leading hematologists and is a recognized speaker at domestic and international congresses. He is the author of more than 290 papers and author or co-author of 12 monographs. Since 1998 he has worked at the Department of Clinical Hematology, which he headed from that same year until 2023.

I would like to let slip that in his free time, Professor Penka rides his motorcycle through the surrounding countryside, enjoying its beauty. I do not know whether this is still the case. But I remember the previous years when, together with Jirka Macek, then a representative of the Baxter company, he would ride his motorcycle from Brno to Ondrášov dvůr every year for our hemophilia camp and would always spend a day or so there with us. It is a nice example of how professional and personal life can intertwine beautifully.

In closing, Professor, allow me one more personal memory. That was our joint trip to the World Hemophilia Congress in Glasgow, Scotland. There we were able to sit together for some time, chat more personally, and not only about the Czech Hemophilia Society.

We wish you good health and a lasting supportive environment both in your family and at work. We also wish you plenty of energy to continue your work and to train the next generation of physicians. We are glad to have you. Great thanks also go to your entire team of doctors and nurses at the Department of Clinical Hematology in Brno-Bohunice.

Martin Bohůn, Chairman of the Czech Hemophilia Society