Jerzy Vetulani

Jerzy Adam Gracjan Vetulani (born 21 January 1936, died 7 April 2017) war a Polish neuroscientist, pharmacologist and biochemist, professor of natural sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, one of the most frequently cited Polish scientists in the field of biomedicine after 1965.

Profesor, Head of the Department of Biochemistry (1976–2006), Deputy Director for Science Affairs (1994–2001) and Vice Chairman of the Scientific Council (2002–2017) of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków.[2] Author of more than 200 original research papers. He first gained recognition for an early hypothesis of the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs, suggesting, together with Fridolin Sulser, that downregulation of beta-adrenergic receptors is responsible for their effects.. In 1983 he received Anna-Monika Prize for research on mechanisms of action of electroconvulsive therapy. Beside depression, his scientific interests include memory, addiction and neurodegeneration. Active also in the field of popularization of science, for more than twenty years he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Wszechświat. He is also known for his popular lectures, gathering large audiences on various occasions.

He was an announcer and one of the creators of Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret (1954–1961) and a regular participant of the anthropological talking magazine Gadający Pies (The Talking Dog, 2010–2015). An activist of the democratic opposition in the Polish People's Republic, since 1980 was a member of the Solidarity trade union. He was a candidat for president of Kraków in 2002 election.

An honorary fellow of Indian Academy of Neurosciences and Oxford Neurological Society, honorary doctor of the Medical University of Silesia and the Medical University of Łódź, he received several other awards and official distinctions, including Gold Cross of Merit and Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta.

He actively argues for legalization of marijuana and depenalization of all drugs for adult users, often criticizing repressive drug policy in Poland.

1936–1952: Early years and rebellion

He was born on January 21, 1936 at the private gynecological hospital at Garncarska Street in Kraków, Poland as the son of Adam Vetulani, Professor and head of the Department of Church Law at the Jagiellonian University, and Irena Latinik, a biologist and daughter of Polish Army general Franciszek Latinik. In 1938 his younger brother Jan was born. The family occupied 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 Cracow, 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 Cracow during the war. Thanks to her good knowledge of German, Irena took up her job as a translator in the spirit monopoly. Jerzy and Jan remained in war years under the care of the mother who raised both sons "in a patriotic sense of honor". Every Sunday at home there was a "mystery" and the family used to sing Polish, Catholic religious song Boże, coś Polskę. In his childhood, Jerzy was a religious boy; he even served as an altar boy at St. Mary's Basilica.

Vetulani recalled the war years as interesting, full of fascinating activity and exploring the surrounding world, undermining the collective, martyrological picture of despair and misery. Together with his younger brother and friend from the tenement house, Andrzej Mirocki, they founded an insect gatherer club. For the most spectacular and precious part of their collection, they recognized a diverse collection of butterflies. Mother never let children witness one of the street executions.

Jerzy began his education in 1942 and immediately entered the second class of secret sets led by Mrs. Iwiczowa, as he was already able to read and write. From 1948 he attended the Henryk Sienkiewicz High School in Cracow, and then, after his liquidation, Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School, where he passed matura in 1952, obtaining a certificate with a distinction for best pupils.

Already as a teenager, Vetulani has completely walked away from religion. He described himself from a young age as "a rebel who did a lot of things in spite of his parents." At the age of twelve he enrolled in the Union of Polish Youth. He was removed from the organization as a result of a typo in the school newspaper article. In the text he mistakenly and unconsciously, instead of "the basis of socialism" (podstawy socjalizmu), he wrote "the washers of socialism" (podsrawy socjalizmu). Later he also joined the Atheists and Freethought Club. He belonged to the Revolutionary Youth Union, a formation of idealistic communists who were striving for reform of Polish communist system that they considered defective.

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 in the demolition of the basement at Palace Pod Baranami, which soon became room for the cabaret. In 1958, when Piotr Skrzynecki left for Paris, Vetulani temporarily replaced him as a conference caller. It was in Piwnica that he met his future wife, Maria Pająk, whose appearance at the time he compared to Marina Vlady's. They married on July 8, 1963. Soon after that their sons Marek and Tomasz were born, respectively in 1964 and 1965. They also have four grandchildren.

In 1955–1962 he acted as a speaker at the Cracow Student Film Discussion Club. Vetulani admitted that "it was a good thing because "it taught him to speak short, interesting and fast". In 1972 he was a scientific consultant for the film Illumination directed by Krzysztof Zanussi.

After the death of his brother, who drowned during a canoeing on the Dunajec River in 1965, he mobilized to begin work on his Ph.D. dissertation. He obtained Ph.D. degree in natural sciences in 1966 from Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences upon dissertation The action of isoxazole and pyrazole derivatives on the metabolism of the animal system prepared under the direction of Professor Józef Hano. In the same year went to Great Britain for one year Riker scholarship. In the UK he worked on mastering spectrofluorimetric methods at the University of Cambridge under the direction of Arnold Burgen. During his stay in Cambridge, he encountered Bożena Puchalska and Juliusz Hibner.

After returning to Poland he started work in the field of psychopharmacology under the direction of Jerzy Maj.

1973–1989: In the orbit of world science. Opposition

After submitting a habilitation dissertation, for almost two years he left for the United States, where he worked from 1973 to 1975 as Research Associate Professor at the Vanderbilt University. He gained international recognition after the discovery in 1975 (with Fridolin Sulser) of β-downregulation by chronic administration of antidepressants and the formulation of β-downregulation hypothesis as a mechanism of action of antidepressants. The work on this subject, published by Vetulani and Sulser in Nature, became citation classic, receiving 580 vocations by 2007.

After his mother's death, he and his family decided to return to Poland. Vetulani received his habilitation degree in 1976 (upon work Neuroleptics, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and dopamine beta-hydroxylase inhibitors: their actions and synergies), an associate professor in 1983, and a professor in 1989. In 1976, he was appointed Head of the Department of Biochemistry at Institute of Pharmacology.

Since 1978 he has regularly collaborated with the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR, National Research Council) in Rome. On behalf of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences he was a coordinator of the joint research program of his home Institute with the Istituto di Biology Cellulare and Neurobiology (IBCN). When visiting Rome, he usually received an audience with John Paul II, who was a student of his father and friend of the family.

In 1983 Vetulani received International Anna-Monika Prize (2nd class) for his research on the mechanism of of electroconvulsion. In years 1981–2002 he was the editor-in-chief of Wszechświat, one of the oldest Polish popular science magazines.

From 1980 he was an activist in the Solidarity movement.

1989–2006: Late career and social activity

Vetulani often appears on the stage of the talking magazine Gadający Pies (The Talking Dog).

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 focus 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 Cracow Brain Days, and since 2000 he has performed every year since the Cracow Brain Week organized as a part of Brain Awareness Week.

Vetulani also published several popular articles and on the topic of neuroscience. He is a member of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB); and from 1981 to 2002 was the Editor-in-Chief of Wszechswiat, the oldest Polish popular science magazine.

Since June 2010 he has run a blog called Piękno neurobiologii (The Beauty of Neuroscience) on WordPress. On his blog Vetulani comments on the curiosities of the human brain.

Selected works

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 (5526 ed.). 257: 495–6. doi:10.1038/257495a0. PMID 170534.
• Vetulani J, Bednarczyk B (1977). "Depression by clonidine of shaking behaviour elicited by nalorphine in morphine-dependent rats". Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (1 ed.). 29: 567–9. doi:10.1111/j.2042-7158.1977.tb11401.x. PMID 21267.

Praca dotyczyła odkrycia, że klonidyna hamuje zespół odstawienia po morfinie. W pracy autorzy zasugerowali, że efekt ten może być wykorzystany klinicznie.

• 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 (3 ed.). 44: 585–90. PMID 1661384.
• Vetulani J, Antkiewicz-Michaluk L, Nalepa I, Sansone M (2003). "A Possible Physiological Role for Cerebral Tetrahydroisoquinolines". Neurotoxicity Research (1 ed.). 5: 147–155. doi:10.1007/BF03033379.
• 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 (3 ed.). 97: 846–856. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.03756.x. PMID 16515537.

Monographs and booklets

• 1964: Półprzewodniki organiczne (co-authors: Krzysztof Pigoń, Kazimierz Gumiński, Wydawnictwa Naukowo-Techniczne)
• 1996: Teoria a praktyka leczenia depresji (editor, published by Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum)
• 2006: Narkotyki bez dydaktyki (free supplement to the weekly „Polityka”)
• 2012: Farmakoterapia depresji – współczesne podstawy teoretyczne i doświadczenia kliniczne (editor, with Janusz Heitzman, published by Termedia)

Popular books

• 1985: Dzień dzisiejszy i jutro neurobiologii (Ossolineum)
• 1993: Jak usprawnić pamięć (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 (Wydawnictwo Homini, edited by Krzysztof Bielawski) – Kraków Book of the Month Award (January 2011)
• 2011: Piękno neurobiologii (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 (with Maria Mazurek, PWN)
• 2016: A w konopiach strach (with Maria Mazurek, PWN)

Interviews

• 2015: Mózg i błazen (interviewed by Marcin Rotkiewicz, published by Wydawnictwo Czarne)
• 2017: Ćwiczenia duszy, rozciąganie mózgu (in conversation with a Catholic priest Grzegorz Strzelczyk, edited by Michał Jędrzejek, published by Znak)

Translations

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

Awards and honors (selection)

• 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);
• Gold Badge of the Copernicus Polish Society of Naturalists (1986);
• 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);
• Gold Cross of Merit (1990);
• Nicolaus Copernicus Scientific Award (1996);
• an honorary member of the Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists (1996);
• Jerzy Konorski Award (2001);
• Prime Minister of Poland Award for the entirety of his scientific achievements (2003);
• Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta (2004);
• Honoris causa degree from the Medical University of Silesia (2004);
• Jędrzej Śniadecki Medal for the entirety of his research in the field of psychopharmacology (2006);
• an honorary member of Polish Neuroscience Society (2007);
• Honoris causa degree from the Medical University of Łódź (2008);
• Honoris Gratia badge from the mayor of the Royal Capital City of Kraków (2009);
• Kraków Book of the Month (January 2011);
• Zbyszek Thielle Award from Polish Drug Policy Network „for uncompromising support with his scientific authority for the efforts to humanize Polish drug policy, for attitude of deep understanding of the problems of people who use and depend on psychoactive substances, for work and activities for the introduction of medical cannabis and the defense of the civil rights of its users” (2011);
• Rationalist of the Year from Polish Rationalists Society (2012);
• Special Award for in the competition "Science Popularizer" organised by PAP and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education the entirety of his popular work; justification stated that the scientist "brings to the reader not only the latest findings of neuroscientists, but also the socially important conclusions of these studies" (2012);
• Gazeta Krakowska Man of the Year (2014);
• Medal for Long Marital Life (2014);
• Starost of Gorlice Award (2016);
• Honorary Fellow of the Oxford Neurological Society (2017).