Melanins and Melanosomes: Biosynthesis, Structure, Physiological and Pathological Functions

Jan Borovansky was born in Prague in 1943. He graduated from Faculty of General Medicine, Charles University in 1966 and gained his Ph.D. in 1976 from the Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry under Professor J. Duchon. From 1970 to 1980 he was Lecturer in Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry. In 1980 he defended his Habilitation Thesis and became Associate Professor at the Charles University, and in 2004 he was appointed a Full Professor of Biochemistry. In 2008 he was elected to the Senate of the 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague. From the outset of his research career he has been involved in biochemical studies of melanosomes, and the enzymes associated with them. He has also published important studies on metal binding by melanins, the cytotoxicity of zinc, and free radical processes in normal and malignant pigment cells. Since 1979 he has been member of the International Pigment Cell Society and following its transformation into European Society for Pigment Cell Research (ESPCR) he was elected to its Council (1990-1998). In 1981 he was General Secretary of the 3rd European Workshop on Melanin Pigmentation and in 1998 he was President of the 8th Meeting of the ESPCR organized in Prague. As a long-standing member of the Editorial Board of Pigment Cell Research (1995-1998) he received a special Certificate of Appreciation from the International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies and Munksgaard in 1999. Since 2000 he has been a member of the International Board of the Pigment Cell Research Bulletin to which he regularly contributes with critical bibliographical reviews concerning melanosomes. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Folia Biologica (Prague) (2006-present) and a member of the Board of Advisors of the American Biographical Institute. He was an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London (1980, 1984) and has been a Visiting Scientist at several other institutions including Sheffield University (1978) and Leiden University Medical Centre (1997). He was the recipient of the Annual award of the Czechoslovak Oncological Society in 1975. Recently, he was appointed a member of the Organizing Committee of the 34th FEBS Meeting held in Prague and was responsible for planning the Symposium on Melanins and Melanogenesis.