“He is one of the true pioneers in drug delivery and we are extremely fortunate to have Jindrich as a member of our esteemed faculty,” says Patrick A. Tresco, Chair of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah. “He sets the bar for research productivity and clinical impact. He simply loves what he does and finds real joy in his work.”
To better understand the extent of Dr. Kopecek’s achievements, one should examine the scope of his work. Since beginning his career in the mid 1960’s, he has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles (cited an amazing 12,500 times), 450 abstracts and has over 17 issued patents. In addition, he is an editorial board member of 16 international scientific journals, a fellow in 13 scientific societies and has received over 30 awards and honors, including the Clemson Award for Basic Research from the Society of Biomaterials, the lifetime achievement award from the Journal of Drug Targeting and election to the National Academy of Engineering.
The main thrust of his work is the study of relationships between the structure of synthetic macromolecules and their interaction with, and bio-recognition by, living human tissue. His team is evaluating biocompatible conjugates as targetable delivery systems for anticancer and anti-inflammatory drugs, as protein delivery systems and as new biomaterials. His group excels in synthesizing polymers that mimic structures only made by natural living systems.
Dr. Kopecek has been a pioneer of an interdisciplinary approach that involves synthetic and physical chemistry, molecular engineering, pharmaceutics and biomedical engineering.