On 13 June, the JU Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology held a ceremony of conferment of a silver Plus ratio quam vis medal upon Prof. John D. Simon, distinguished chemist and Rector of Lehigh University (Pennsylvania, USA). The researcher was awarded for his contribution to the development of collaboration between Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) and the Jagiellonian University in the area of molecular biology, photochemistry and photophysics. On behalf of the JU Rector, the diploma and medal were presented by the JU Vice-Rector for Research and Structural Funds Prof. Stanisław Kistryn.
Prof. John D. Simon played a key role in writing a series of academic papers, published between 2000 and 2010 in prestigious journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. These publications were co-authored by former or current staff of the JU Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology Department of biophysics. Collaboration between the Polish and American research groups allowed Kraków scientists to use unique measuring devices, which resulted in discovering the mechanisms of endogenous eye and skin pigment toxicity, including their ability to photogenerate reactive forms of oxygen that can be engaged in undesirable phototoxicity of these tissues.
