Jerzy Vetulani

Jerzy Vetulani a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Jerzy

Jerzy Adam Gracjan Vetulani (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛ.ʐɨ ˈa.dam ˈɡrat͡s.jan ˌvɛ.tu.ˈla.ɲi]; 21 January 1936 – 6 April 2017) was a Polish neuroscientist, psychopharmacologist and biochemist, professor of natural sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, between 1956 and 2017 employee at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków, where he was head of the Department of Biochemistry (1976–2006), deputy director for Science Affairs (1994–2002) and vice chairman of the Scientific Council (2003–2017). He published more than 240 original research papers in peer-review journals. While a Research Associate Professor at the Vanderbilt University, together with Fridolin Sulser in 1975 he formulated an early hypothesis of the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs, suggesting that downregulation of beta-adrenergic receptors is responsible for their effects. In 1983, he received Anna-Monika Prize for research on the mechanisms of the electroconvulsive therapy. Beside depression, his research interests included memory, addiction and neurodegeneration. According to Andrzej Pilc, he was one of the most frequently cited Polish scientists in the field of biomedicine between 1965 and 2001. He was a popularizer and communicator of science, between 1981 and 2002 the editor-in-chief of the Wszechświat magazine. He…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Jerzy

Social background His father, Adam Vetulani, came from Sanok, and was a professor at the Jagiellonian University, head of the Department of Canon Law; the son of Roman Vetulani and Elżbieta née Kunachowicz (who came from an impoverished landowning family). He had daughter Kristine (born 1924), Jerzy's older sister. Jerzy Vetulani's mother, Irena Vetulani née Latinik, was a biologist and researcher at the Department of Comparative Anatomy at the Jagiellonian University, daughter of Franciszek Latinik, Polish Army General; and Helena née Stiasny-Strzelbicka. Jerzy Vetulani's uncles were: Kazimierz, Zygmunt and Tadeusz Vetulani, his closest aunt was Maria Vetulani (“Maryla”; 1895–1945), a bank clerk; his further aunts were Zofia, Maria and Cecylia Vetulani; his paternal cousins were Witold de Nisau, Wanda and Zygmunt Vetulani, and his maternal cousins were Irena and Andrzej Popiel, and Janusz and Jerzy Rieger.

Jerzy Vetulani a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Jerzy

1936–1952: Early years and rebellion He was born on 21 January 1936 at the private gynecological hospital at Garncarska Street in Kraków, Poland. In 1938 his younger brother Jan was born. The family lived in an apartment on the ground floor of the house of professors of the Jagiellonian University at Plac Inwalidów, employing a maid, cook and Olga Rutter, a child educator. As Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Adam Vetulani took part in the defense war. With his unit, he went to Romania and then to France, where he also fought on the front. Eventually he was interned in Switzerland, where he spent the rest of the war organizing school camps for Polish soldiers. The correspondence sent to the occupied Poland was signed by the Fraulein Kupfer alias. After the German army entered Kraków, Irena Vetulani and her sons had to leave the apartment. They were given forty-eight hours to move, with the possibility of keeping movable property. They moved to the premises at Garncarska Street 4, where Józefa Onitsch, the wife of General Zygmunt Zieliński, gave them refuge. The family was supported by Adam Vetulani's brother, Tadeusz, who has been living in Kraków during the war.…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Jerzy

1952–1973: Studies, cabaret, Institute of Pharmacology In 1952 he began his studies in biology at the Jagiellonian University (specializing in animal physiology), which he completed in 1957, defending his thesis on the effects of ascorbic acid on rabbit blood. In March 1956, he began a volunteer internshipat at the Department of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (later renamed the Institute of Pharmacology), where he has been working since, until the end of his life. Janusz Supniewski was head of the department at that time. In 1957, after obtaining master's degree, Vetulani was hired as an assistant. Later, also at the Jagiellonian University, he studied chemistry (specializing in theoretical chemistry). He graduated in 1963. As an exchange student he spent seven weeks in Swansea, where he worked at the British Iron and Steel Research Association. He rented a room at a senior Welsh marriage and studied English intensively; every day he bought an edition of Daily Mirror and underlined unknown words, that he later learned. He was one of the founders and permanent regulars of the Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret. In the mid-1950s, together with a group of friends: Edmund Jarosz, Bronisław Chromy and Lala Skąpska, he took part…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Jerzy

1989–2006: Late career and social activity Jerzy Vetulani was a member of Solidarity Citizens' Committee (1989–1990) and Kraków Solidarity Club (1994–1995). Between 1992 and 1998 he was a member of the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum. In 1999–2001 he was the President of the Polish Neuroscience Society. He also introduced Polish term for neurofibrillary tangles, which he called splątki neurofibrylarne. In 1991 he was appointed a correspondent member of the Polish Academy of Learning. He was appointed a full member in 1996. He regularly held meetings of the Scientific Cafe at the Polish Academy of Learning at Sławkowska Street 17, as the opening and moderator of the discussions. He was a member of the board of the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts (2001–2017) and a member of the chapter of the Laurel of Kraków of the 21st century (also 2001–2017). He was a member of the board of the Society for the Advancement and Promotion of Science and member of the Warsaw Scientific Society and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB). In 2002 he was appointed vice-chairman of the Scientific Council of the Insitiute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Over the years, his students (many…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

2006–2017: Towards popular science In 2006, Vetulani left the position of head of the department of biochemistry of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and devoted himself to a large degree to popular science. In this field he was active already in the 1960s when he published short texts in Wszechświat, as a rule signing articles with his own name or with pseudonym J. Latini. After 2000 he became known for his popular science lectures, which focused on themes connected with the functioning of human brain and the relationship between neuroscience and various social and cultural aspects. In 1999 he was a lecturer during the Kraków Brain Days, and since 2000 he has performed every year at the Kraków Brain Week organized as a part of World Brain Awareness Week. Since June 2010 Vetulani ran a blog titled Piękno neurobiologii (The Beauty of Neuroscience) on WordPress. There, he published articles on discoveries in the fields of neuroscience and psychopharmacology and comments on the curiosities of the human brain and, additionally, various cultural and social matters. The direct cause of the founding of the site was the removal of Vetulani's column in Wprost magazine by the newly…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Accident and death On March 2, 2017, in the evening, Vetulani, who was at the age of 81, was hit by an automobile at the pedestrian crossing receiving serious injuries. Vetulani was walking home from his regular place of work, the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, taking a route he knew very well. Directly after the accident he was put into a pharmacological coma, and his condition was determined as severe but stable. He was being treated at the Emergency Medicine Rescue and Disaster Center at the Szpital Uniwersytecki (University Hospital) in Kraków, under the supervision of the team of Professor Jerzy Wordliczek. Vetulani's health did not improve and he died in the hospital on April 6, 2017. He was buried on April 18, 2017, in the Avenue of the Meritorious at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków. Aleksander Janicki, visual artist and Vetulani's friend was the master of the ceremony which was carried out in a secular rite. Among the speakers at the funeral were Mayor of Kraków Jacek Majchrowski, president of the Polish Academy of Learning Andrzej Białas, Member of the Sejm Józef Lassota, and also friends and family of Jerzy Vetulani. His wife Maria…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Views As crucial in shaping his worldview, Jerzy Vetulani pointed The Naked Ape by English zoologist Desmond Morris. He first came across Morris's work in Cambridge in 1967 and said: “Thanks to this book for the first time I saw that you could approach a man like a normal animal species. (...) I realized at that time how ridiculous is a man who, as an animal instead of on all fours, is walking on two legs. How funny we look, hairless almost all over the body. (...) I also got rid of the belief in the superuniqueness of Homo sapiens”. Vetulani defined the source of happiness and fulfillment of life, considered from the perspective of biology, as the immortalization of one's own genes by passing them on to the next generations. He often referred to Theodosius Dobzhansky's well-known quotation and the title of one of Dobzhansky's works: Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution. Vetulani was close to the philosophy of utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill; he said: “Moral is what serves to increase the happiness of mankind. There is only one problem – unfortunately we have no way of summing up that happiness”. He was…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Original research papers Vetulani J, Sulser F (1975). "Action of various antidepressant treatments reduces reactivity of noradrenergic cyclic AMP-generating system in limbic forebrain". Nature. 257 (5526) (5526 ed.): 495–6. Bibcode:1975Natur.257..495V. doi:10.1038/257495a0. PMID 170534. S2CID 4185467. Vetulani J, Bednarczyk B (1977). "Depression by clonidine of shaking behaviour elicited by nalorphine in morphine-dependent rats". Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. 29 (9) (1 ed.): 567–9. doi:10.1111/j.2042-7158.1977.tb11401.x. PMID 21267. S2CID 37647001. Nalepa I, Vetulani J (1991). "Involvement of Protein Kinase C in the Mechanism of in Vitro Effects of Imipramine on Generation of Second Messengers by Noradrenaline in Cerebral Cortical Slices of the Rat Neuroscience". Neuroscience. 44 (3) (3 ed.): 585–90. doi:10.1016/0306-4522(91)90079-4. PMID 1661384. S2CID 38713065. Vetulani J, Antkiewicz-Michaluk L, Nalepa I, Sansone M (2003). "A Possible Physiological Role for Cerebral Tetrahydroisoquinolines". Neurotoxicity Research. 5 (1–2) (1 ed.): 147–155. doi:10.1007/BF03033379. PMID 12832229. S2CID 25130188.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Antkiewicz-Michaluk L, Lazarewicz JW, Patsenka A, Kajta M, Zieminska E, Salinska E, Wasik A, Golembiowska K, Vetulani J (2006). "The Mechanism of 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroisoquinolines Neuroprotection: the Importance of Free Radicals Scavenging Properties and Inhibition of Glutamate-Induced Excitotoxicity". Journal of Neurochemistry. 97 (3) (3 ed.): 846–856. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.03756.x. PMID 16515537. S2CID 22056555.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint:…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Monographs and booklets 1964: Półprzewodniki organiczne (“Organic Semiconductors”, co-authors: Krzysztof Pigoń, Kazimierz Gumiński, published by Wydawnictwa Naukowo-Techniczne) 1996: Teoria a praktyka leczenia depresji (“Theory and Practice of Depression Treatment”, editor, published by Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum) 2006: Narkotyki bez dydaktyki (“Drugs Without the Lecture”, free supplement to the weekly Polityka) 2012: Farmakoterapia depresji – współczesne podstawy teoretyczne i doświadczenia kliniczne (“Pharmacotherapy of Depression – Contemporary Theoretical Foundations and Clinical Experience”, editor, with Janusz Heitzman, published by Termedia)

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Popular science books 1985: Dzień dzisiejszy i jutro neurobiologii (“Neurobiology Today and Tomorrow”, published by Ossolineum) 1993: Jak usprawnić pamięć (“How to Improve Memory”, published by Wydawnictwo Platan) The book was reissued twice (in 1995 and 1998). Sławomir Zagórski, a journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza, in a review of the book called it a page-turner. Małgorzata Czartoszewska of journal Życie Warszawy pointed its “usefulness and universality”. 2010: Mózg: fascynacje, problemy, tajemnice (“The Brain: Fascinations, Problems, Mysteries”, published by Wydawnictwo Homini, edited by Krzysztof Bielawski) – Kraków Book of the Month Award (January 2011) 2011: Piękno neurobiologii (“The Beauty of Neurobiology”, published by Wydawnictwo Homini) The book was published as a continuation of Mózg: fascynacje, problemy, tajemnice and contains mainly commentaries and interviews distributed in the media; apart from the scientific subjects, there are threads about the biography of the author. The title was taken from both the Vetulani blog and the interview conducted by Maria de Hernandez Paluch for the monthly Kraków. Sławomir Zagórski described in Gazeta Wyborcza the two books published by Homini as “extremely interesting”. 2015: Bez ograniczeń. Jak rządzi nami mózg (“No Limits. How the Brain Rules Us”, with Maria Mazurek, published by PWN) 2016: A w konopiach…Citește mai mult

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Interviews 2015: Mózg i błazen (“The Brain and the Jester”, interviewed by Marcin Rotkiewicz, published by Wydawnictwo Czarne) 2017: Ćwiczenia duszy, rozciąganie mózgu (“Exercises for the Soul, Stretching the Brain”, in conversation with a Catholic priest Grzegorz Strzelczyk, edited by Michał Jędrzejek, published by Znak)

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Translations 2010: Carlton K. Erickson, The Science of Addiction: From Neurobiology to Treatment (Polish translation published by Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego)

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Awards and honors Awards of the Scientific Secretary of the Polish Academy of Sciences (team, 1972, 1977); Awards of the Faculty of Medicine of the Polish Academy of Sciences (as team leader, 1982, 1986, 1992); Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland (1984); Gold Badge of the Copernicus Polish Society of Naturalists (1986);

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

International Anna-Monika Prize (2nd class, 1983); Gold badge of the Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists (1986); an honorary member of the Indian Academy of Neurosciences (1988);

Jerzy Vetulani a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Nicolaus Copernicus Scientific Award (1996); an honorary member of the Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists (1996); Jerzy Konorski Award granted by the Polish Neuroscience Society (2001); Prime Minister of Poland Award for the entirety of his scientific achievements (2003);