Her work contributed in important ways to the exploration of developmental and regenerative processes in the nervous system. With her husband and scientific collaborator, Dr. Vaclav Ourednik, she worked for over three decades at renowned universities and institutions such as Harvard University and ETH Zürich. Together, they published in high-profile scientific journals like Science, Nature and PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Their work described plastic processes governing the development and regeneration of the central nervous system (CNS) and the design of innovative therapeutic approaches towards injury and degenerative disease of the spinal cord and brain.
During the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the two researchers founded the Alpine Astrovillage, a center for astrophotography and stargazing. It is situated in the Eastern Swiss Alps, in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Val Müstair-Swiss National Park. For her scientific, educative, and popularizing work, Jitka Ourednik received many credits and recognitions. She organized scientific congresses and chaired talk sessions during national and international events. Her neuroscientific research focused on the induction of then still unexplored regenerative capacities of the CNS in relation to transplantation of embryonic neural tissue and of neural stem cells. In 2005, the scientist couple was invited to present their new ideas and findings during the prestigious Nobel-Forum lectures for young investigators at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Since 2009, the two have dedicated themselves exclusively to their popular science and educative work and the running of their AAV Center in Switzerland. For her long and internationally recognized work as a born Czech living abroad, the Czech Embassy in Switzerland nominated Jitka Ourednik already twice as candidate for the prize Gratias Agit.
Scientific work: Developmental and regenerative neuroscience, selected publications
(German) (English) Homepage of the astrophotography center Alpine Astrovillage
(German) (English) (French) (Czech) Caelus Edition associated with the AAV Center. It publishes non-fiction books, audioplays and other publications about the cosmos and astrophotography
