STATNI ZDRAVOTNI USTAV

Their core work

Státní zdravotní ústav (National Institute of Public Health, Czech Republic) is the country's central public health authority responsible for monitoring population health, food safety, and environmental exposure to chemicals. In H2020, they contributed expertise in human biomonitoring, foodborne disease surveillance, and chemical risk assessment — bridging the gap between laboratory science and public health policy. Their work spans from tracking how chemical mixtures affect human health to implementing One Health approaches that link food safety, animal health, and human disease prevention.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Early H2020 projects (2015) focused on food system modeling (SUSFANS) and chemical mixture risk in food (EuroMix) — essentially food safety science. By 2017-2018, SZU moved toward population-level biomonitoring (HBM4EU) and the broader One Health framework linking food, animal, and human health. The shift shows a clear trajectory from narrow food chemistry toward integrated public health surveillance and policy translation.

SZU is moving from food-specific chemical analysis toward population-wide health monitoring and cross-domain disease surveillance — expect future work at the intersection of environmental exposure, food safety, and public health policy.

How they like to work

SZU operates exclusively as a participant or third party — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for national public health institutes that contribute domain data and regulatory expertise rather than driving research agendas. With 169 unique partners across 36 countries, they plug into very large pan-European consortia (One Health EJP and HBM4EU each involved 30+ countries). This makes them a reliable data contributor and national reference point rather than a project initiator.

Remarkably broad network for a modest project count: 169 unique partners across 36 countries, driven by membership in two major pan-European joint programmes (HBM4EU and One Health EJP). This gives them direct connections to nearly every national public health institute in Europe.

What sets them apart

SZU is the Czech Republic's national public health reference laboratory, giving them access to population health data, biomonitoring cohorts, and regulatory channels that academic labs cannot match. Their combination of food safety, chemical exposure monitoring, and One Health surveillance in a single institution is uncommon — most organizations specialize in only one of these. For consortium builders, SZU offers a credible Czech national node with direct links to public health policy implementation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HBM4EU
  Flagship European biomonitoring initiative spanning 30+ countries — SZU contributed as a third party, indicating they provided national-level biomonitoring data for the Czech Republic.
• One Health EJP
  Major European Joint Programme integrating food safety, zoonotic disease, and antimicrobial resistance surveillance across national health institutes — ran until 2023, their most recent activity.
• EuroMix
  Addressed the scientifically challenging topic of combined chemical mixture exposure through food — directly relevant to EU regulatory risk assessment reform.