FAKULTNI NEMOCNICE OSTRAVA

Their core work

Fakultni Nemocnice Ostrava is a major university hospital in the Czech Republic's Moravian-Silesian region, serving as both a clinical care provider and a clinical research site. In H2020 projects, the hospital contributes patient cohorts, clinical trial infrastructure, and medical expertise — particularly in oncology (CAR-T cell therapies), gastroenterology diagnostics, and cardiac electrophysiology. Their most recent and substantial work focuses on stereotactic radiotherapy for treating life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, positioning them at the intersection of radiation oncology and cardiology.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FNO entered H2020 in 2017 with broad clinical participation in cancer immunotherapy (EURE-CART), then briefly engaged with medical device validation (PillSense). By 2021, their focus sharpened significantly toward cardiac radioablation through the STOPSTORM project, which is their largest funded and longest-running effort (extending to 2027). This trajectory suggests a deliberate shift from general clinical trial participation toward a specialized niche where radiation oncology meets cardiac electrophysiology.

FNO is building deep capability in stereotactic cardiac radioablation — a rapidly emerging field — and will likely seek further projects combining radiation therapy with cardiology through 2027 and beyond.

How they like to work

FNO operates exclusively as a participant, never leading consortia — consistent with a hospital contributing clinical sites and patient data rather than driving research agendas. They work in relatively large consortia (45 unique partners across just 3 projects, averaging 15 partners per project), which is typical for multi-center clinical validation studies. This makes them a reliable clinical validation partner who can deliver patient recruitment and real-world clinical data within large European trials.

FNO has collaborated with 45 unique partners across 10 countries through just 3 projects, indicating involvement in large multi-center clinical consortia typical of European medical validation studies. Their network spans multiple EU member states, reflecting the distributed nature of clinical trial recruitment.

What sets them apart

FNO sits at a rare intersection of radiation oncology and cardiac electrophysiology — stereotactic cardiac radioablation is a frontier treatment with very few hospitals equipped and experienced to participate in validation cohorts. As a large Czech university hospital, they offer access to Central European patient populations that are often underrepresented in Western-led clinical trials. For consortium builders, FNO provides geographic diversity, clinical infrastructure, and emerging expertise in a highly specialized therapeutic area.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STOPSTORM
  Their largest funded project (EUR 198,750) running until 2027, focused on the emerging and highly specialized field of stereotactic radiotherapy for cardiac arrhythmias.
• EURE-CART
  Early participation in a major European CAR-T cell therapy validation effort, demonstrating the hospital's capacity for complex oncology clinical trials.