Prof. Dr. Melinda Kovács - MATE Research
Overview
Melinda Kovács is a Széchenyi Prize-winning veterinarian, full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, professor at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), head of the Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition.
Since graduation, she has been working in the predecessor institutions of the MATE Kaposvár Campus (Agricultural College of Kaposvár, Pannon Agricultural University, Kaposvár University).
Her main research fields include production physiology, feed and food safety, One Health, mycotoxicoses. Her research work mainly serves feed and food safety aspects of animal production and contributes to questions how to mitigate and prevent the harmful effects of mycotoxins in a One Health approach.
She has collaborated with several research groups in Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, South Africa, Austria etc. and has successfully applied for grants nationally (OTKA, TIOP, TÁMOP, GINOP) and internationally (Marie Curie, Horizon Europe, TéT, Erasmus). She is the leader of the HUN-REN-MATE Mycotoxins in the Food Chain Research Group supported by the Hungarian Research Network.
Research keywords:
Publications
Csenki, Zsolt; Bartók, Tibor; Bock, Illés; Horváth, Levente; Lemli, Beáta; Zsidó, Balázs Zoltán; Angeli, Cserne; Hetényi, Csaba; Szabó, István; Urbányi, Béla; Kovács, Melinda; Poór Miklós. Interaction of Fumonisin B1, N-Palmitoyl-Fumonisin B1, 5-O-Palmitoyl-Fumonisin B1, and Fumonisin B4 Mycotoxins with Human Serum Albumin and Their Toxic Impacts on Zebrafish Embryos. BIOMOLECULES 13:5 Paper: 755, 17 p. (2023) https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13050755
Zeebone, Yarsmin Yunus; Bóta, Brigitta; Halas, Veronika; Libisch, Balázs ; Olasz, Ferenc; Papp, Péter; Keresztény, Tibor; Gerőcs, Annamária; Ali, Omeralfaroug; Kovács, Melinda et al. Gut-Faecal Microbial and Health-Marker Response to Dietary Fumonisins in Weaned Pigs. TOXINS, 15:5 Paper: 328, 18 p. (2023) https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15050328
Szabó-Fodor, Judit; Szeitzné-Szabó, Mária; Bóta, Brigitta; Schieszl, Tamás; Angeli, Cserne; Gambacorta, Lucia; Solfrizzo, Michele; Szabó, András; Kovács, Melinda. Assessment of Human Mycotoxin Exposure in Hungary by Urinary Biomarker Determination and the Uncertainties of the Exposure Calculation: A Case Study. FOODS 11:1 Paper: 11010015, 15 p. (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11010015
Szabó, András; Nagy, Szabolcs; Ali, Omeralfaroug; Gerencsér, Zsolt; Mézes, Miklós; Balogh, Krisztián Milán; Bartók, Tibor; Horváth, Levente; Mouhanna, Aziz; Kovács, Melinda. A 65-Day Fumonisin B Exposure at High Dietary Levels Has Negligible Effects on the Testicular and Spermatological Parameters of Adult Rabbit Bucks. TOXINS 13:4 Paper:237, 17 p. (2021) https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13040237
Szabó-Fodor, Judit; Szabó, András; Kócsó, Dániel; Marosi, Kinga; Bóta, Brigitta; Kachlek, Mariam; Mézes, Miklós; Balogh, Krisztián; Kövér, György; Nagy, István; Glávits, Róbert; Kovács Melinda. Interaction between the three frequently co-occurring Fusarium mycotoxins in rats. JOURNAL OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND ANIMAL NUTRITION 103:1 pp. 370-382, 13 p. (2019) https://doi.org/10.1111/jpn.13013
Projects
Exploring the individual and combined health-damaging effects of environmental mycotoxins – supported by the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN)
The research group conducts interdisciplinary, primarily exploratory research to expand the knowledge existing on the effects of mycotoxins contaminating the food chain and to strengthen the scientific foundations of mycotoxin risk assessment. In several fields, the group aims to implement gap-filling research having a novel approach in mechanism of action of mycotoxins and also human exposure assessment. https://physiology-nutrition.uni-mate.hu/elkh-mate-mycotoxins-in-the-food-chain-research-group
Agribiotechnology and Precision Breeding for Food Security National Laboratory – supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility
The main objective of the National Laboratory is to give scientifically based responses to complex challenges emerging in agriculture. Several hundred experts of the research community in the participating institutions with decades of accumulated experience and the unique infrastructure provide a solid basis for achieving the goals. The project integrates the main components of the agroecosystem and the microbe-plant-animal triangle assigning food security of „One Health View” set up by WHO as a common goal.
https://atk.hun-ren.hu/en/research/national-laboratory/
Open Science to Increase Reproducibility in Science (OSIRIS) – Horizon-RIA project
The OSIRIS project aims to provide explicit guidance for researchers, funders and institutes for improving the proportion of reproducible results, increased re-use of scientific results and greater quality of scientific production. The research group participate in WP3: Interventions to improve reproducibility for researchers and institutes. The aim is to develop interventions allowing for cultural changes at the level of institutions, including interventions targeting early career researchers; to monitor transparency items associated with reproducibility issues and to test if interventions promoting transparency of research increase reproducibility.
https://osiris4r.eu/
