Ulbrich Karel

Prof., Ing., DrSc.
Born February 27, 1947 in Prague, † 2019

• Macromolecular chemistry, biomedical polymers
• Member of Learned Society since 2003

Educational and professional preparation

• 1965, graduate, Parléř academic secondary school, Prague 6;
• 1965-1970, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Prague;
• 1975, CSc., in macromolecular chemistry, Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (IMC CSAS);
• 2000, Associate Professor in macromolecular chemistry, ICT;
• 2001, DrSc., IMC, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic (AS CR).
• 2005, Professor in macromolecular chemistry, ICT;

Employment and academic positions

• 1971-1975, post-graduate student, IMC CSAS;
• 1975-present, scientist at IMC, CS AS (later AS CR);
• 1988-present, Head, Department of Biomedical Polymers, IMC, AS CR;
• 1994-1998, Deputy Director, IMC, AS CR,
• 1998-2007, Director of IMC AS CR;
• 1992-present, adjunct associate professor, University of Utah (USA)

Membership in selected domestic scientific bodies

• 2002-present, member Scientific Council, Tomáš Baťa University, Zlín;
• 2003-present, member, Scientific Council, ICT;
• 2008-present, member, Scientific Council, 1^st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague;
• 2009-present, member, Scientific Council, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles University, Prague;
• 1999-present, member, Scientific Council, Polymer Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences;
• 1994-present, member, Scientific Council, Faculty of Chemical Technology of ICT;
• 2003 present, Chairman, Commission for Granting the Title of Doctor of Science in Macromolecular Chemistry, AS CR;
• 2009-present, chairman, Gremium for conferring the D.Sc. degree, AS CR;
• 2007-present, member, Council of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, AS CR;
• 2007-present, member, Council of the Institute of Chemical Processes, AS CR;
• 2007-present, member, Supervisory Board, Microbiology Institute, AS CR;
• 2009-present, vice chairman, Scientific Board, AS CR;
• 1991-2007; 2010-present, member, Academy Assembly, AS CR

Membership and positions in international organizations and societies

• Member, Controlled Release Society
• Member, International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
• Member, editorial boards of: J. Controlled Release, Europ. J. Pharm. Sci., J. Bioact. Biocompat.Polymers, Am. J. Drug Delivery, Central European Journal of Chemistry, J. Biomater. Sci., Polymer Edition
• Member, international editorial advisory board of Polymer (Korea) and the journal Macromol. Biosci.
• Member, Scientific Council, Polymer Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• 2005-present, member, Committee for conferring the Dr.Sc. degree in macromolecular chemistry and technology of macromolecular compound, Slovak Academy of Sciences;

Notable awards

• 1996, Award, Learned Society of the Czech Republic (for work in macromolecular chemistry)
• 2002, Award, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports (for the results of scientific work)
• 2004, Honorary Medal of the Polymer Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences
• 2005, Award “Invence“, Česká hlava, Czech Republic
• 2008, Award “Praemium Academiae 2008”, AS CR

Selected publications

•  T. Etrych, J. Strohalm, L. Kovář, M. Kabešová, B. Říhová, K. Ulbrich, HPMA copolymer conjugates with reduced anti-CD20 antibody for cell-specific drug targeting. I. Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of binding efficacy and cytostatic activity. J. Controlled Release 140, 18-26 (2009)
• K. Ulbrich, V. Šubr: Synthetic Polymer-Drug Conjugates for Human Therapy. Chapter 1 in Handbook of Materials for Nanomedicine. Volume 1: Materials for Nanomedicine: Organic Nanostructures (M.M. Amiji and V.P. Torchilin (eds.)), p. 5-79. Pan Stanford Publishing Pte Ltd 2010
• R. Laga, Č. Koňák, V. Šubr, K. Ulbrich, New Hydrophilic HPMA-Based Polymers for Bioreversible Shielding of Gene Delivery Vectors. Macromol. Chem. Phys. 210, 1138-1148 (2009)
• T. Etrych, L. Kovář, V. Šubr, A. Braunová, M. Pechar, P. Chytil, B. Říhová, K. Ulbrich, High-molecular-weight Polymers Containing Biodegradable Disulfide Bonds: Sunthesis and In Vitro Verification of Intracellular Degradation. J. Bioact. Compat. Polymers 25, 5-26 (2010)
• K. Ulbrich, V. Šubr, Structural and chemical aspects of HPMA copolymers as drug carriers, Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 62, 150-166 (2010)
• T. Lammers, V. Šubr, K. Ulbrich, W. E. Hennink, G. Storm, F. Kiessling, Polymeric nanomedicines for image-guided drug delivery and tumor-targeted combination therapy. Nano Today 5, 197-212 (2010)
• T. Etrych, M. Šírová, L. Starovoytova, B. Říhová, K. Ulbrich, HPMA copolymer conjugates of paclitaxel and docetaxel with pH-controlled drug release. Molecular Pharmaceutics 7, 1015-1026 (2010)
• Říhová, B., Etrych, T., Šírová, M., Kovář, L., Hovorka, O., Kovář, M., Benda, A., Ulbrich, K., Synergistic action of doxorubicin bound to the polymeric carrier based on N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymers through amide or hydrazone bond. Molecular Pharmaceutics 7, 1027-1040 (2010)
• R. Laga, Č. Koňák, V. Šubr, K. Ulbrich, N. Suthiwangcharoen, N. Zhongwei, Q. Wang, Chemical Conjugation of Cowpea Mosaic Viruses with Reactive HPMA-Based Polymers, J. Biomater. Sci. Polym. Ed. 21(12)1669-1685 (2010)
• P. Chytil, T. Etrych, J. Kříž, V. Šubr, K. Ulbrich, N-(2-Hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide-based polymer conjugates with pH-controlled activation of doxorubicin for cell-specific or passive tumour targeting. Synthesis by RAFT polymerisation and physicochemical characterisation. Europ. J. Pharm. Sci. 41, 473-482 (2010)
• R.A. Willemsen, M. Pechar, R.C. Carlisle, E. Schooten, R. Pola, A.J. Thompson, L.W. Seymour and K. Ulbrich, Multi-component polymeric system for tumour cell-specific gene delivery using a universal bungarotoxin linker. Pharm. Res. 11 (27), 2274-2282, (2010)