Jump to content

Joan Guinovart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Guinovart and the second or maternal family name is Cirera.

Joan Josep Guinovart Cirera
Guinovart in 2006
Born(1947-07-03)3 July 1947
Tarragona, Spain
Died1 January 2025(2025-01-01) (aged 77)
Barcelona, Spain
EducationUniversity of Barcelona (Doctorate in Pharmacy, 1969).
Known forResearch on glycogen; service to FEBS and IUBMB
SpouseRosa-Francisca Florensa
Children1 daughter, Caterina
AwardsDiplôme d’Honneur of FEBS (2007), IUBMB Distinguished Service Award (2021), FEBS Israel Pecht Award (2024)
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsUniversity of Virginia (post-doctoral research; Prínceps d’Espanya Hospital, Bellvitge; Social Security Clinical Analysis Service; University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Barcelona; University of California, San Francisco; Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona
Doctoral studentsJoan Massagué

Joan Josep Guinovart Cirera (3 July 1947 – 1 January 2025) was a Spanish biochemist known for studies of glycogen and work in FEBS, IUBMB and the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Personal life

[edit]

Joan Guinovart was born on 3 July 1947 in Tarragona, Spain[1] and died on 1 January 2025 in Barcelona.[2] He was married to Rosa-Francisca Florensa.[3] When not travelling to many scientific meetings all over the world, they lived in Barcelona, spending part of their time in the last years of his life in a house designed and built for them in 2010 in Canejan, Val d'Aran,[4] close to the border with France.

Education

[edit]

Guinovart qualified in pharmacy and chemical sciences at the University of Barcelona in 1969, and was awarded a doctorate in pharmacy by the same university in 1973.[1] He then spent the years 1974–1975 as a post-doctoral fellow in the department of pharmacology of the University of Virginia.[1]

Career

[edit]

Guinovart started his career as assistant professor of clinical biochemistry at the Prínceps d’Espanya Hospital in Bellvitge (1978–1980). He became chief of the clinical analysis service of the Social Security (1980–1985). He was assistant professor (later full professor) of biochemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Barcelona (1975–1983) and at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1983–1985).[1]

He held the chairs of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona from 1986 to 1990, and the University of Barcelona from 1990, and was the director of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona from 1995 to 2001.[1]

From 1992 to 1993 he was visiting professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco.[1]

In 2001–2002 he was director general of the Barcelona Science Park, where he created the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) in 2005.[1]

Research

[edit]

Guinovart's research was primarily concerned with glycogen, starting with a study of the effects of insulin on glycogen synthase,[5] and leading up to a study of Lafora disease, a debilitating disease characterized by accumulation of abnormal glycogen[6] and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, another debilitating disease related to glycogen.[7] In relation to the mouse model, he and his co-workers found that glycogen α particles still form in mouse liver in the absence of glycogenin,[8] following an earlier study of fatigue in mice.[9]

Among earlier papers we may note several that have been highly cited, including a study of the relationship between diabetes and testicular function,[10] suppression of glycogen synthesis in neurons,[11] a guideline for statistical analyis of data from metabolomics,[12] and the effect of hypoxia on glycogen accumulation.[13]

Service to international unions and scientific societies

[edit]

Guinovart was president of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM) from 1996 to 2000, and in this capacity he presided over the organizing committee of the FEBS Congress in Barcelona in 1996. He was a member of executive committee of FEBS from 1997 to 2005.[1] He was president of the IUBMB from 2015 to 2018, and president of the Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (Cosce) from 2005 to 2011.[1]

He was the founding editor-in-chief of the magazine SEBBM,[14] and editor of IUBMB Life, and was a regular contributor to La Vanguardia, the leading newspaper of Catalonia.[1]

Honours

[edit]

Guinovart received many honours and awards during his career, starting with the Leandre Cervera Prize of the Catalan Society of Biology (1979 and 1985), followed by the medal of the French Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1983), the Narcís Monturiol Prize of the Generalitat of Catalonia (1999).[1] In 2021 he received the IUBMB Distinguished Service Award.[15] After a lifetime of "contribution to the molecular biosciences community" FEBS in 2024 awarded him the first Israel Pecht Award.[16] He had previously received the Diplôme d’Honneur of FEBS in 2007.[14]

In 2005 he was elected as a Corresponding Member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences (the photograph at the beginning of this article was taken at the time of his admission),[17] in 2006 to the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Spain,[18] and in 2011 to the Academia Europaea.[19]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Societat Andorrana de Ciàncies, May–June 2008, "Joan Josep Guinovart i Cirera" (in Catalan), https://web.archive.org/web/20141220223710/http://www.sac.ad/el%20sac%20pdf/elsac137.pdf
  2. ^ La Vanguardia, "Muere el científico Joan Guinovart, fundador del IRB Barcelona", https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20250101/10250408/muere-cientifico-joan-guinovart-fundador-irb-barcelona.html
  3. ^ "El Dr. Joan J. Guinovart pronuncia una conferència a la Cambra". El Vallenc. 2009.
  4. ^ "Guinovart Florensa Residence / Cadaval & Solà-Morales". archdaly. 2010.
  5. ^ Massagué, J.; Guinovart, J. J. (1977). "Insulin control of rat hepatocyte glycogen synthase and phosphorylase in the absence of glucose". FEBS Lett. 82 (2): 317–320. Bibcode:1977FEBSL..82..317M. doi:10.1016/0014-5793(77)80610-8. PMID 410662.
  6. ^ Varea, O.; Guinovart, J. J.; Duran, J. (2022). "Malin restoration as proof of concept for gene therapy for Lafora disease". Brain Commun. 4 (4): fcac168. doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcac168. PMC 9260307. PMID 35813879.
  7. ^ Brewer, M. K.; Torres, P.; Ayala, V.; Portero-Otin, M.; Pamplona, R.; Andrés-Benito, P.; Ferrer, I.; Gentry, M. S.; Guinovart, J. J.; Duran, J. (2023). "Glycogen accumulation modulates life span in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis". J. Neurochem. 168 (5): 744–759. doi:10.1111/jnc.15906. PMC 10764643. PMID 37401737.
  8. ^ Tan, X.; Testoni, G.; Sullivan, M. A.; López-Soldado, I.; Vilaplana, F.; Gilbert, R. G.; Guinovart, J. J.; Schulz, B. L.; Duran (2025). "Glycogenin is dispensable for normal liver glycogen metabolism and body glucose homeostasis". Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 291: 139084. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.139084. PMID 39716709.
  9. ^ López-Soldado, I.; Guinovart, J. J.; Duran, J. (2021). "Increased liver glycogen levels enhance exercise capacity in mice". J. Biol. Chem. 297 (2): 100976. doi:10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100976. PMC 8350413. PMID 34284060.
  10. ^ Ballester, J.; Muñoz, M. C.; Domínguez, J.; Rigau, T.; Guinovart, J. J.; Rodríguez-Gil, J. E. (2013). "Insulin-dependent diabetes affects testicular function by FSH- and LH-linked mechanisms". J. Androl. 25 (5): 706–719. doi:10.1002/j.1939-4640.2004.tb02845.x. PMID 15292100.
  11. ^ Vilchez, D.; Ros, S.; Cifuentes, D.; Pujadas, Ll.; Vallès, J.; García-Fojeda, B.; Criado-García, O.; Fernández-Sánchez, E.; Medraño-Fernández, I.; Domínguez, J.; García-Rocha, M.; Soriano, E.; Rodríguez de Córdoba, S.; Guinovart, J. J. (2007). "Mechanism suppressing glycogen synthesis in neurons and its demise in progressive myoclonus epilepsy". Nat. Neurosci. 10 (11): 1407–1413. doi:10.1038/nn1998. hdl:10261/61739. PMID 17952067.
  12. ^ Vinaixa, M.; Samino, S.; Saez, I.; Duran, J.; Guinovart, J. J.; Yanes, O. (2012). "A guideline to univariate statistical analysis for LC/MS-based untargeted metabolomics-derived data". Metabolites. 2 (4): 775–795. doi:10.3390/metabo2040775. PMC 3901240. PMID 24957762.
  13. ^ Pescador, N.; Villar, D.; Cifuentes, D.; Garcia-Rocha, M.; Ortiz-Barahona, A.; Vazquez, S.; Ordoñez, A.; Cuevas, Y.; Saez-Morales, D.; Garcia-Bermejo, M. L.; Landazuri, M. O.; Guinovart, J.; del Peso, L. (2010). "Hypoxia promotes glycogen accumulation through hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-mediated induction of glycogen synthase 1". PLOS ONE. 5 (3): e9644. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...5.9644P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009644. PMC 2837373. PMID 20300197.
  14. ^ a b "in memory of Professor Joan J. Guinovart: his legacy and significant contributions to FEBS". Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS).
  15. ^ "Congratulations to Professor Joan Guinovart". International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). 25 July 2021.
  16. ^ "The Israel Pecht Award 2024". Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). 26 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Miembros Correspondientes extranjeros". Academia Chilena de Ciencias.
  18. ^ "Académicos de Número Actual". Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia.
  19. ^ "List of Members". Academia Europaea: the Academy of Europe.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Joan_Guinovart&oldid=1267631068"