← About Conforval
Team profile
prof. Jiří Drábek, PhD.
Molecular geneticist, judicial expert, and Vice-Rector for Science, Creative Activities and Knowledge Transfer of Palacky University Olomouc.
Personal information
Contact & identifiers
IMTM, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Czechia.
Experience
Relevant work experience
Over three decades across forensic genetics, ISO 17025 quality management, expert witness work, and research leadership.
2026–
Permanent member of PhD examining committee
Palacky University Olomouc
Education
University
2025–
Expert for Rwanda Forensic Institute
Conforval
ISO 17025 quality system preparation and auditing
Forensic Institute
2025–
Vice-Rector for Science, Creative Activities, and Knowledge Transfer
Palacky University Olomouc
Management
University
2010–2015
Member of Forensic Genetics Testing Committee
Institute of Criminalistics
Examining
Police
2008–2011
Laboratory quality manager according to ISO 17025 norm
LEM, Children's Clinique, University Hospital Olomouc
Quality management
Healthcare quality
2008–
External auditor of ISO 17025 accredited labs
Czech Institute for Accreditation
Quality auditing
Regulatory agency
2008–
Head of ISO 17025 and ISO 15189 accredited lab
DNA laboratory of LEM, Children's Clinique, University Hospital Olomouc (in 2011 renamed and relocated to DNA laboratory of LEM, IMTM)
Management
Healthcare
2004–
Researcher
Faculty of Science and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc
Researching
Science
2003
Postdoc
Ohio University Athens, USA
Researching
Science
1999–
Expert witness
Czech courts
Evaluating genetic evidence
Forensic science
1993–2002
Diagnostics laboratory worker
Department of Immunology, University Hospital Olomouc — immunogenetics
Supervising HLA laboratory
Diagnostics
Education
Education and training
Continuous specialised training in forensic genetics, quality management, and judicial expert practice.
2023
Challenging Forensic Science: How Science Should Speak to Court
UNIL Lausanne, Switzerland
Certificate · Level 7
2022
Judicial expert according to a new Czech law no. 254/2019 Sb.
Judicial Academy Kroměříž
Certificate · Level 8
2015
Train the Trainers — Statistical methods in forensic genetics
Copenhagen, Denmark
Certificate · Level 7
2012
DNA Evidence Interpretation Essentials
SEFE Lausanne, Switzerland
Certificate · Level 7
2009
Clinical Geneticist
Ministry of Health, Czechia
Certificate · Level 7 · Clinical genetics
2008
Course for ISO 17025 auditors
Czech Accreditation Institute
Certificate · Level 7
2007
Quality manager for laboratories
Czech Accreditation Institute
Certificate · Level 7 · Quality control and assessment
1999
Expert witness in healthcare — genetics, molecular genetics, and DNA diagnostics
Ministry of Justice, Czechia
Certificate · Level 7
Personal skills
Languages & competences
Mother tongue
Czech
Other languages
| Language | Listening | Reading | Spoken interaction | Spoken production | Writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | C1 | C1 | C1 | B2 | B2 |
IELTS overall band 7.0. Levels per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages — A1/A2 Basic user, B1/B2 Independent user, C1/C2 Proficient user.
Communication skills
Strong communication skills developed through years of work as teacher, supervisor, manager, and on-call responder for diagnostic results — further refined during fellowships at Trinity College, Oxford University, UK (1995–1996) and Ohio University Athens, USA (2003).
Organisational & managerial skills
- Directly responsible for a team of 9 in the DNA laboratory; partly responsible for several teams in the Biomarker package of IMTM.
- President of the Czechoslovak Society for Forensic Genetics (CSSFG).
- Principal investigator on 13 grants.
- Organiser of the Forensica conferences in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022, and 2024 — approximately 100 participants each — and the ISFG2019 congress with 1,000 participants.
Job-related skills
- Good command of quality-control processes according to ISO 17025 and ISO 15189; currently external auditor for the Czech Accreditation Institute.
- Workshop lecturer for paternity and kinship testing software familias — editions 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2024.
- Workshop lecturer of ISO 17025:2017 at the ISFG congress 2019 in Prague.
- Long-standing cooperation with Ing. Emil Karaus since 2010 — first through Qiagen, then through Conforval s.r.o. (consultations and project support).
Additional information
Memberships
- CSSFG — Czechoslovak Society for Forensic Genetics — president
- ISFG — International Society for Forensic Genetics — member
- SLG ČLS JEP — Society for Medical Genetics, Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně — member