Obituary – Professor Dr. Jerzy Jaroszewski

Prof. Dr. Jerzy Jaroszewski

Professor Jerzy W. Jaroszewski, editor of Planta Medica, died in Copenhagen on October 18, 2011 at the age of 60.

Jerzy W. Jaroszewski was born in Poland in 1950. Early in the 1970s he came to Denmark where he initiated studies in organic chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. In 1976 he obtained his master's degree followed by a Ph.D. thesis with Martin G. Ettlinger as his supervisor. After having graduated in 1980, he was employed at The Royal Danish School of Pharmacy (later The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences and now The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen) where he was appointed professor by the Department of Medicinal Chemistry in 1997. His Ph.D. study focused on cyanogenic glycosides which had been fascinating him for a number of years. As a result, intensive studies on the cyanogenic glycosides of the Flacourtiaceae family were initiated in order to understand their formation from non-proteinogenic amino acids. Subsequently, studies were performed on gossypol, a sesquiterpenoid polyphenol from cottonseed that displays male antifertility activity.

Early on, he recognized the potential of modern NMR spectroscopic methods, and in 1990 the first superconducting NMR spectrometer (400 MHz) was installed at the department as a result of his efforts. Following periods at the laboratory of Jack S. Cohen at the National Institute of Health and visits at Georgetown University Medical School, a number of projects related to the application of antisense DNA technology were completed. During the 1990s, a collaborative project on neuroactive polyamine wasp toxin analogues was initiated, resulting in identification of a number of analogues with superior properties as well as in the development of improved synthetic methodologies for this type of natural product. Parallel studies on antiplasmodial natural products led to the discovery of erythrocyte membrane effects of some natural products.

During the last 10 years of his career, emphasis was put on hyphenated NMR methods for rapid dereplication of natural product extracts. In this period, equipment for hyphenated HPLC-SPE-NMR-MS (600 MHz spectrometer and a cryo-probe) was installed at the department enabling the detection and structure elucidation of chemical entities in low µg amounts. This equipment was also intended to be used for identification of natural products blocking the fungal plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase, an ideal antifungal drug target. Unfortunately, Jerzy Jaroszewski will not see the outcome of this project. He also was involved in metabolomic studies with the aim of characterizing herbal tribal medicines.

During his career Jerzy Jaroszewski coauthored about 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, reviews, and book chapters. He served as head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry for five years and since 2007 as an editor for Planta Medica, a position in which he impressed authors with his thoughtful comments and positive criticism.

Besides his scientific career, he participated in the development of new curricula for courses on natural product chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, and advanced spectroscopy. More than 30 Ph.D. students and 50 M.Sc. students benefited from his enthusiasm as scientist and tutor. The Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Planta Medica, and the scientific society are going to miss Jerzy W. Jaroszewski's knowledge and working attitude in the future.

Søren Brøgger Christensen
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
University of Copenhagen