Dr. Páleníček has been working at the National Institute of Mental Health (formerly the Prague Psychiatric Centre) since 2001, when he began focusing on preclinical research into the neurobiology of schizophrenia using pharmacological models of psychosis. Very early on, he expanded his research interests to include the neurobiology of the effects of psychedelics (such as LSD, psilocybin, 2C-B, mescaline, etc.), entactogens (the drug ecstasy, i.e. MDMA), and novel synthetic substances.

In parallel with his research activities carried out as part of his postgraduate studies, he completed clinical training in Psychiatry and obtained functional specialization in electroencephalography (EEG). He defended his PhD in 2009 and obtained board certification in Psychiatry in 2012. He has since expanded his research activities to include human experimental studies.

He is a co-investigator on projects using ketamine both as a model of psychosis and in the study of its antidepressant effects. He is the principal investigator of the first project in the Czech Republic focused on studying the acute effects of cannabis in healthy volunteers, as well as the first Czech project in which the psychedelic psilocybin is administered to human volunteers as a model of psychosis. The main focus of his research is brain functional connectivity studied using EEG. In clinical practice, he is currently engaged in outpatient psychiatric care.