Kryštof Novotný from FEEC BUT received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. | Autor: Fulbright Czech Republic
Kryštof Novotný is one of three students from the Czech Republic to receive a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship under the Visiting Student Program. He will spend six months at Johns Hopkins University in the USA researching the early diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies using acoustic speech analysis.
You have completed your first year of PhD studies. How did you get the idea to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship?
At the introductory meeting for new PhD students at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication (FEEC), Vice Dean Jaroslav Koton presented various opportunities to travel abroad, including the Fulbright Scholarship. When I then learned from my supervisor, Associate Professor Jiří Mekyska, about a research team from Johns Hopkins University open for collaboration, I was offered to try to apply for the scholarship.
The research will be related to the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies. How exactly should we imagine the scope of the research and its contribution?
This multidisciplinary project addresses knowledge gaps in the diagnosis and monitoring of dementia with Lewy bodies and proposes innovative approaches using acoustic speech analysis. It also includes the use of AI for early supportive diagnosis and prediction of disease progression. The aim is to present a new, fast, cheap and easy to administer alternative to existing laborious and lengthy examination methods. Ideally, a general practitioner would eventually be able to detect the risk of disease from a simple speech recording using the proposed method, and thus refer the patient for a more thorough examination. In the Czech Republic, we have a limited database of speech recordings to work with. The USA alone, due to its population, represents a database many times larger, which I will be able to use.
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Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. The disease is characterised by the formation of protein deposits called Lewy bodies in nerve cells in areas of the brain involved in thinking, memory and movement. The disease affects speech and language, among other things. Source: Národní zdravotnický informační portál.
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What is involved in applying for a Fulbright Scholarship?
The scholarship application consists of two main documents - one is a proposal for the project itself (describing the state of current knowledge, motivation, goals, benefits, methodology and justification for the need to conduct research in the USA) and the other is a personal statement (a document in the form of an essay defending me as a candidate). The deadline for applications was February 1. After that, the project goes through a review process where it is evaluated by selected experts in the field. If successful, this is followed by an oral selection process in front of the committee itself. During the month of February, I received an invitation to the oral selection process, which took place on 6 March.
What was the committee interested in and what do you think impressed them?
The five-member committee was most interested in the practical application of the project and the contribution to society. I don't know if I appealed to them directly, but I think I was able to explain how much of a rich source of information the speech represents. Speech is a material that is easy to obtain, inexpensive, and a wealth of information can be gleaned from it.
How did you find out that you were awarded a Fulbright Scholarship?
I found out that I had received the scholarship by email during March. The first orientation meeting then followed in May. That included signing the grant documents.
You received the Dean's Award for both your bachelor's and master's thesis - maybe that's why you had the courage to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship?
Quite frankly, I didn't know about the prestige of the Fulbright Scholarship at the time I applied. That may have been the main reason I took the plunge. I believe that the thesis awards may have helped in the actual selection process. Both papers address the same area as the project itself (paraclinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases based on acoustic speech analysis), so their awards may promise greater potential success for the proposed project for someone, for example.
Kryštof Novotný from FEEC BUT received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. | Autor: Fulbright Czech Republic
You mention that this is a multidisciplinary project - do you collaborate with colleagues from other institutes, faculties or institutions?
Our research team at BDALab (Brain Diseases Analysis Laboratory) has a wide range of topics and thanks to that many interesting contacts and collaborations, among which foreign collaborations are also represented to a large extent. I personally have had the opportunity to collaborate with Irena Rektorová (Research Group of Applied Neuroscience, CEITEC; I. Neurological Clinic, Faculty of Medicine and St. Anne's University Hospital), Pedro Gómez-Vilde (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) or Luboš Brabenec (Research Group of Applied Neuroscience, CEITEC).
What do you hope to gain from the Fulbright Scholarship and your stay at Johns Hopkins University? Why this institution?
I was recommended by my supervisor to Professor Laureano Moro-Velázquez, who is based at this American university. This decision was certainly supported by Moro-Velázquez's high quality and beneficial results, publications and sympathetic approach. I would have liked to have gained from him not only knowledge in the development of digital speech and voice biomarkers, but also other know-how, for example regarding my academic career. I would like to transfer and apply all this back to my team in Brno. At the same time, I believe that my internship will also bring me many useful contacts and collaborations.
Additional information about the connection to the prestigious Johns Hopkins University was provided by Kryštof's supervisor Jiří Mekyska. "Within the BDALab, which is part of the Department of Telecommunications, we have been researching digital speech biomarkers for more than ten years. A few years back, I gave a talk at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I established collaborations with local universities in the field of speech disorders in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. One of them is Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Laureano Moro-Velázquez is based there, and we agreed to bring our teams together to work on common topics. But I was looking for someone to go there for a couple of months and blaze a trail. Kryštof is a very talented and humble student. He's already picked up awards during his undergraduate years. Then when he told me he wanted to go to graduate school and started looking into internships, it was a no-brainer who would go to America. Kryštof has excellent experience in acoustic analysis of speech and voice pathologies. The Moro-Velázquez team, on the other hand, dominates the field of natural language analysis. Combining both expertise can lead to significant advances in computer-aided diagnosis of synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease or Lewy body dementia," Mekyska explained the rationale for Kryštof's mission.
Kryštof has completed his first year of study in the Teleinformatics PhD program at the Institute of Telecommunications (FEEC). He earned his engineering degree in the Audio Engineering program, which he chose in his second year of high school and which attracted him to the FEEC. He was attracted by the uniqueness of the field, which allows him to study sound in all its aspects - from the perspective of acoustics, electrical engineering, digital audio signal processing theory, as well as physiology. Another key factor in his decision to study audio engineering at FEEC is the interdisciplinary cooperation with the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts. He himself plays acoustic and electric guitar. He leaves for his student internship at Johns Hopkins University in October, where he will work on his project until February 2025.
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The prestigious Fulbright scholarship programs funded by the Czech and U.S. governments provide Czech citizens with the opportunity to study, conduct research or teach in the U.S. Individuals apply directly to the Fulbright Commission for scholarships, not through their home academic or other institutions. Fellows are selected in an open competition. Fellowships typically cover living expenses, round-trip airfare and health insurance, and possibly some other costs (tuition or part of it). The basic prerequisites for Czech students applying for a scholarship are Czech citizenship, completion of at least a bachelor's degree and a very good command of English. Final approval for all grants is given by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, appointed by the President of the United States and based in Washington, DC. (Conditions may vary for U.S. citizens. For more information, visit https://www.fulbright.cz/en/.)
Author: Zdeňka Koubová
The Fulbright Scholarship opened the door for Kryštof to attend an American university
Kryštof Novotný from FEEC BUT received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. | Autor: Fulbright Czech Republic
Kryštof Novotný is one of three students from the Czech Republic to receive a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship under the Visiting Student Program. He will spend six months at Johns Hopkins University in the USA researching the early diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies using acoustic speech analysis.
You have completed your first year of PhD studies. How did you get the idea to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship?
At the introductory meeting for new PhD students at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication (FEEC), Vice Dean Jaroslav Koton presented various opportunities to travel abroad, including the Fulbright Scholarship. When I then learned from my supervisor, Associate Professor Jiří Mekyska, about a research team from Johns Hopkins University open for collaboration, I was offered to try to apply for the scholarship.
The research will be related to the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies. How exactly should we imagine the scope of the research and its contribution?
This multidisciplinary project addresses knowledge gaps in the diagnosis and monitoring of dementia with Lewy bodies and proposes innovative approaches using acoustic speech analysis. It also includes the use of AI for early supportive diagnosis and prediction of disease progression. The aim is to present a new, fast, cheap and easy to administer alternative to existing laborious and lengthy examination methods. Ideally, a general practitioner would eventually be able to detect the risk of disease from a simple speech recording using the proposed method, and thus refer the patient for a more thorough examination. In the Czech Republic, we have a limited database of speech recordings to work with. The USA alone, due to its population, represents a database many times larger, which I will be able to use.
----------------------------------------------------
Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. The disease is characterised by the formation of protein deposits called Lewy bodies in nerve cells in areas of the brain involved in thinking, memory and movement. The disease affects speech and language, among other things. Source: Národní zdravotnický informační portál.
----------------------------------------------------
What is involved in applying for a Fulbright Scholarship?
The scholarship application consists of two main documents - one is a proposal for the project itself (describing the state of current knowledge, motivation, goals, benefits, methodology and justification for the need to conduct research in the USA) and the other is a personal statement (a document in the form of an essay defending me as a candidate). The deadline for applications was February 1. After that, the project goes through a review process where it is evaluated by selected experts in the field. If successful, this is followed by an oral selection process in front of the committee itself. During the month of February, I received an invitation to the oral selection process, which took place on 6 March.
What was the committee interested in and what do you think impressed them?
The five-member committee was most interested in the practical application of the project and the contribution to society. I don't know if I appealed to them directly, but I think I was able to explain how much of a rich source of information the speech represents. Speech is a material that is easy to obtain, inexpensive, and a wealth of information can be gleaned from it.
How did you find out that you were awarded a Fulbright Scholarship?
I found out that I had received the scholarship by email during March. The first orientation meeting then followed in May. That included signing the grant documents.
You received the Dean's Award for both your bachelor's and master's thesis - maybe that's why you had the courage to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship?
Quite frankly, I didn't know about the prestige of the Fulbright Scholarship at the time I applied. That may have been the main reason I took the plunge. I believe that the thesis awards may have helped in the actual selection process. Both papers address the same area as the project itself (paraclinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases based on acoustic speech analysis), so their awards may promise greater potential success for the proposed project for someone, for example.
Kryštof Novotný from FEEC BUT received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. | Autor: Fulbright Czech Republic
You mention that this is a multidisciplinary project - do you collaborate with colleagues from other institutes, faculties or institutions?
Our research team at BDALab (Brain Diseases Analysis Laboratory) has a wide range of topics and thanks to that many interesting contacts and collaborations, among which foreign collaborations are also represented to a large extent. I personally have had the opportunity to collaborate with Irena Rektorová (Research Group of Applied Neuroscience, CEITEC; I. Neurological Clinic, Faculty of Medicine and St. Anne's University Hospital), Pedro Gómez-Vilde (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) or Luboš Brabenec (Research Group of Applied Neuroscience, CEITEC).
What do you hope to gain from the Fulbright Scholarship and your stay at Johns Hopkins University? Why this institution?
I was recommended by my supervisor to Professor Laureano Moro-Velázquez, who is based at this American university. This decision was certainly supported by Moro-Velázquez's high quality and beneficial results, publications and sympathetic approach. I would have liked to have gained from him not only knowledge in the development of digital speech and voice biomarkers, but also other know-how, for example regarding my academic career. I would like to transfer and apply all this back to my team in Brno. At the same time, I believe that my internship will also bring me many useful contacts and collaborations.
Additional information about the connection to the prestigious Johns Hopkins University was provided by Kryštof's supervisor Jiří Mekyska. "Within the BDALab, which is part of the Department of Telecommunications, we have been researching digital speech biomarkers for more than ten years. A few years back, I gave a talk at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I established collaborations with local universities in the field of speech disorders in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. One of them is Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Laureano Moro-Velázquez is based there, and we agreed to bring our teams together to work on common topics. But I was looking for someone to go there for a couple of months and blaze a trail. Kryštof is a very talented and humble student. He's already picked up awards during his undergraduate years. Then when he told me he wanted to go to graduate school and started looking into internships, it was a no-brainer who would go to America. Kryštof has excellent experience in acoustic analysis of speech and voice pathologies. The Moro-Velázquez team, on the other hand, dominates the field of natural language analysis. Combining both expertise can lead to significant advances in computer-aided diagnosis of synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease or Lewy body dementia," Mekyska explained the rationale for Kryštof's mission.
Kryštof has completed his first year of study in the Teleinformatics PhD program at the Institute of Telecommunications (FEEC). He earned his engineering degree in the Audio Engineering program, which he chose in his second year of high school and which attracted him to the FEEC. He was attracted by the uniqueness of the field, which allows him to study sound in all its aspects - from the perspective of acoustics, electrical engineering, digital audio signal processing theory, as well as physiology. Another key factor in his decision to study audio engineering at FEEC is the interdisciplinary cooperation with the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts. He himself plays acoustic and electric guitar. He leaves for his student internship at Johns Hopkins University in October, where he will work on his project until February 2025.
----------------------------------------------------
The prestigious Fulbright scholarship programs funded by the Czech and U.S. governments provide Czech citizens with the opportunity to study, conduct research or teach in the U.S. Individuals apply directly to the Fulbright Commission for scholarships, not through their home academic or other institutions. Fellows are selected in an open competition. Fellowships typically cover living expenses, round-trip airfare and health insurance, and possibly some other costs (tuition or part of it). The basic prerequisites for Czech students applying for a scholarship are Czech citizenship, completion of at least a bachelor's degree and a very good command of English. Final approval for all grants is given by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, appointed by the President of the United States and based in Washington, DC. (Conditions may vary for U.S. citizens. For more information, visit https://www.fulbright.cz/en/.)
Author: Zdeňka Koubová
| Responsible person | Ing. Zdeňka Koubová |
|---|---|
| Date of publication |