Radovan Borojevic
A History!
versão em português
Radovan Borojevic
was born in Croatia on 16 November 1940 to a
Serb military and a Croatian pianist.
He grew up and went to school in Zagreb,
surrounded by intellectuals, such as his
grandfather, who was an expert in Law and
his greatgrandfather, who was Sigmund
Freud’s contemporary in psychoanalytical
studies. Even though his education was
oriented to Mathematics and Humanities,
with special emphasis on Latin and Greek, at
the Classical School in Zagreb, he later
opted for the Natural Sciences. From the
time he spent in Zagreb he inherited
persistance at work and a broad approach to
human knowledge.
He
read Biology at the Sciences Faculty at the
University of Zagreb, being active in Marine
Biology Studies at the Institutes of Rovinj
and Dubrovnik by the Adriatic Sea. While
still an undergraduate student he was
granted a scholarship at the University of
Strasburg. It was at the Zoology Institute
at this University that the then young
student was lucky to meet Professor Levi and
begin his studies in Taxonomy, Evolution and
Ecology of the Calcarea Sponges. Professor
Levi’s influence was determinant in his
scientific education, sharpening his
curiosity and teaching him discipline and
methodology, crucial features in the make-up
of a scientist and a mature individual.
Thus, even before his graduation he began to
turn gradually into one of the most
important specialists in the Porifera
Phylum. The choice of Calcarea Sponges as a
model of study influenced the course of his
scientific life significantly, making him
begin thinking about the model of primitive
multi cellular organization and the starting
point for the evolution of Metazoa.
In
1963 he earned his “Diplôme d’Études
Supérieures” from the Science Faculty at
Strasburg University. In that same year he
took over the position of researcher at the
French National Counsil for Scientific
Research FNCSR). In 1968 he was granted his
Doctorate’s degree in Sciences from the
University of Paris, deepening his studies
on evolution, cellular differentiation and
morphogenesis of multi cellular organisms.
The
confidence in the coherence of his thoughts
gave him courage to publish his Doctoral
thesis in the renowned journal entitled
Developmental Biology in 1966. His research
brought up a revolutionary rather than an
orthodox view of evolution, which went
against the view of Haeckel and von Baer.
His hypothesis was later confirmed through
genetic and molecular studies developed by
his students and followers, corroborating
his premises. These data earned him
international recognition through an award
by the Developmental Biology Society in
Calgary, Canada. This was the recognition of
the value of his ideas, which have been
verified by a greater and greater number of
scientific papers about animal origin and
evolution.
Still
in 1968, he was active in the setting up and
organization of a new Biology Laboratory of
Marine Invertebrates at Paris’s National
Natural History Museum, together with
Professor Levi, then appointed Full
Professor at that Institution. The project
was, however, prematuraly interrupted as a
consequence of a revolutionary Sorbonne,
dictating the political and social positions
of the moment. As a naturalized French
citizen, he was drafted to serve in the
Technical and Scientific Cooperation for the
French government. He was sent to the
University of Pernambuco, where he was in
charge of researchers at the Sea Sciences
Laboratory at the Federal University of
Pernambuco. He accepted the challenge posed
by the Brazilian Navy to evaluate the
regional fishing resources. It was then
possible for him to contrast the wonderful
landscape of the Atlantic coast with the
health and nutrition problems of the natives
of the tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Brazil’s natural beauty along with the merry
people, so poor in resources, made him
decide to stay.
With
the clear intention of putting his
scientific knowledge to the service of the
improvement in the quality of life of the
needy, in 1971 he accepted the proposal made
by France’s Service of Technical Scientific
Cooperation and by Rio de Janeiro’s Navy
Research Institute. His challenge was to
organize the latter´s Experimental Biology
Laboratory. Several Brazilian researchers
were supervised by him in their studies of
marine resources. At that time he was
responsible for the development of “in
vitro” models of Schistosomal infection.
From his close collaboration with UFMG’s
Professor José Pelegrino, he got a great
interest in Parasitic Biology and Cellular
Pathology. This work made him go back to the
models of study in the control of cellular
proliferation and differentiation and
morphogenesis (in the case of tissue
pathological lesions), which had been put
aside when he finished his doctoral studies
in the troubled Paris of 1968.
At
that same time France’s Service of
Technical Scientific Cooperation, together
with Gonçalo Moniz Foundation, was
developing a abroad research project on
Schistosomal infection in Bahia. Later,
appointed by the French Embassy as
responsible for the project, Radovan
strengthened collaboration with France
througth research with the Laboratory of
Parasitic Biology and Immunology at the
Pasteur Institute in Lille ( Porf. Capron)
and the Laboratory of Cellular Pathology in
the Pasteur Institute in Lyon ( Prof.
Grimaud). Between 1972 and 1978, this
cooperative project developed vast
epidemiological and immunopathological
studies. The World Health Organization,
recognized the importance of the project
and appointed him external counsellor for
WHO. In that period he developed studies in
general and applied Immunology as well as
studies in Ultra Estructural Citology and
Citopathology in collaboration with Dr.
Grimaud.
He
was drafted in 1978 by France’s Service of
Technical Scientific Cooperation to serve
in the Reza Pahlev Institute in Teheran in
collaboration with the Pasteur Institute.
His decision to refuse the call and leave
the Cooperation was a result of the fact
that he no longer wished to be involved with
administrative work that had already taken
him a great deal of his time. As a matter of
fact, his wish was to go back full time to
fundamental scientific research. Thus, he
again applied for the position of
researcher with the National Counsil for
Scientific Research in France (NCSRF) and
tried to pursue his academic career at Santa
Ursula University, where he was invited to
expand the Human Biology Department. He then
started investigating the dinamics of
mobilization of inflammatory cells and the
myelopoiesis under both normal and
pathological conditions. Even though he kept
the collaboration with the Pathology Unit of
the Pasteur Institute in Lyon, he felt the
structural limitations for the development
of fundamental research in a private
institution. Finally, in 1980 he accepted
the invitation to be a visiting Professor at
the Biochemistry Department of the Chemistry
Institute at the Federal University of Rio
de Janeiro.
The
agreement with the Pasteur Institute
enabled him to participate more intensively
in the Biochemistry Department and
collaborate with Dr. Grimaud’s team. With
time, it became difficult to be in both
laboratories, since the teaching in the
Biochemistry Pos-graduation course and the
challenge to form a new research staff at
Federal University demanded his presence in
Rio de Janeiro. At the same time the
Pasteur Institute and the NCSRF were clear
about their wish to count on him in Lyon.
Once again aware of the risks and the
advantages involved, he took the decision to
quit the NCRS and sit a public examination
to become an Associate Professor at the
Biochemistry Department in 1986. He later
became a Full Professor in that same
Department in 1994.
In
this department in 1988 he divised and set
up the first and only Latin American Bank of
Cells, which he still directs. The bank is
now located at the Clementino Fraga Filho
University Hospital and has a collection of
two hundred different lineages. At the same
time, together with Professor Maria Helena
Nicola from the Chemistry Federal Technical
School of Rio de Janeiro, he created the
first Biotechnology Course in Brazil. This
iniciative allowed talented young people to
be absorbed by the market and be fully
accepted as undergraduate students in
Biomedical Courses at Federal Universities.
His
vast knowledge in Cell Biology, as well as
the experience he gained in Experimental
Hematology, led him to a striking
partnership with Professor Halley Pacheco in
1994 and to the creation of the first group
of bone marrow autologous transplantation.
In this project he also set up the first
service of cryopreservation and quality
control of hematopoietic progenitors
before and after freezing. The fact that
the service was implemented and is still
working enabled him to found the Umbilical
Cord Blood Bank in 2000.
This
time spent at the Chemistry Institute was a
very productive one. He was active in the
organization and installation of the
Biotechnology Centre (Bio-Rio), both as a
member of its the Executive Committee and as
a Permanent Member and Scientific
Coordinator of Direction. As an open-minded
scientist he could not turn down the
opportunity to support the relationship
between the scientific and the production
sectors.
The
constant handling of human cells together
with the accumulated experience of years
dedicated to Cell Biology and to bone marrow
transplantation made him a pioneer in the
study of stem cells in Brazil. In the 90`s
scientists from all over the world were
still beginning to notice the enormous
potential presented by stem cells. His
ample view of science and an
interdisciplinary approach allowed him to
create and coordinate cellular therapies
involving skin and its substitutes, bone and
cartilage cellular therapies and heart
therapies.
The
fact that in 1997 he moved to the Histology
and Embriology Department in the Biomedical
Institutes at UFRJ placed him closer to
other researchers in the health area both
from the Health Sciences Center and the
University Hospital. This physical proximity
allowed for the creation of the Advanced
Programme in Cell Biology Applied to
Medicine and the implementation of Cellular
Therapy Services. The heart therapies
developed in collaboration with Pro-cardíaco
Hospital in Rio de Janeiro had extremely
significant results. As a consequence of
this work he won the Scientist of the Year
Award by “O Globo” newspaper in 2003.
His
work in bone and cartilage therapies is
still in full progress, making him fulfill
his dream of Science in favour of health and
be more and more sure that research is done
collectively. To quote Radovan himself,
“nobody does science alone, I represent a
group that works together.”
A
nature observer and expert in cell
differentiation and morphogenesis of multi
cellular organisms this great master has
supervised hundreds of students and
published countless papers, providing us
with his constant presence and willingness
to help with teaching suggestions and a
great capacity to put the science to the
service of all of those who depend on it.
All
of us Brazilians have a lot thank this
Croatian, French, Pernambucano, Carioca and
Baiano citzen, for we believe that the
seeds he has planted are bearing fruit in
the labs of several Universities, in the
public and private hospitals and, mainly, in
the minds of all students who have had the
privilege to work with him.
Márcia Cury El Cheikh
Michelle Klautau
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