User:JankoKosLjubljana

Janko Kos (born January, 1959) is a Slovenian biochemist known for his contributions to the fields of peptidases, antitumor immune response, and molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases.

Early Life and Education: Janko Kos was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry at the University of Ljubljana, where he also earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1992. During his doctoral studies, he was a fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany and the Federal Cardiological Institute in Moscow, Russia.

Academic and Research Career: Janko Kos began his career as a research assistant at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, where he later became a postdoctoral research associate. He has held various academic positions, including:

• 1996-2005: Head of the Department of Biochemical Research and Drug Design at Krka, d.d., a pharmaceutical company in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.

• 2004-2006: Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Biochemistry at the University of Ljubljana. • 2005: Visiting Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Pathology, Royal Veterinary and Agriculture University, Copenhagen, Denmark.

• 2006-present: Full Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy.

• 2007-2011: Deputy Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana.

• 2007-2020: Head of the Department of Biotechnology at the Jožef Stefan Institute.

Organisational and Managerial Skills: Janko Kos is currently the leader of the Program Group: Pharmaceutical Biochemistry. He has directed 18 funded national and international research projects and organized 20 scientific and professional conferences.

Research Activities: Janko Kos is involved in basic and translational studies of proteolytic enzymes and their inhibitors. He has been studying their role in processes leading to the development and progression of cancer, immune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. His translational research focuses on developing new diagnostics for oncology and screening, designing, and evaluating various types of protease inhibitors for therapy. He has also worked on developing nanoscale drug delivery systems for active targeting of tumor cells.

Professional Activities: • Slovenian Biochemical Society: President (2013–2021)

• FEBS (European Federation of Biochemical Societies): Vice Chair from 2021-2022, Chair from 2022-2023; Executive Committee and Council member from 2014

• EORTC, Pathobiology Group: Steering Committee member (2012–2020)

• 7th EU Framework Programme: Evaluation group member

• Slovenian Research Agency: Scientific Council member

• University of Ljubljana: Student Award Committee member

• Innovative Research Institute (IRI): Scientific Council member

• Memberships: Slovenian Chemical Society, Slovenian Biochemical Society, International Proteolysis Society, American Nano Society

• Editorial Boards: Radiology & Oncology, Frontiers in Immunology, International Journal of Biological Sciences

Pedagogical Activities: Janko Kos is a professor of biochemistry and lecturer in graduate and postgraduate programs at the University of Ljubljana. He has supervised 58 diploma and master theses and 22 Ph.D. theses.

Selected Publications Janko Kos has published over 310 scientific papers and book chapters, including 275 papers in journals with SCI. Kos also holds 10 patents and patent applications. Some of his notable works include:

• BODE, W., ENGH, R. A., MUSIL, D., THIELE, U., HUBER, R., KARSHIKOV, A., BRZIN, J, KOS, J. and TURK, V. (1988): The 2.0 A X-ray crystal structure of chicken egg white cystatin and its possible mode of interaction with cysteine proteinases. EMBO J. 7, 2593-2599.

• KOS, J., NIELSEN, H-J, KRAŠOVEC, M, CHRISTENSEN, IJ, CIMERMAN, N, STEPHENS, R W., BRÜNNER, N. (1998) Prognostic values of cathepsin B and carcinoembryonic antigen in sera of patients with colorectal cancer. Clin Cancer Res, 4, 1511-1516.

• KOS, J., KRAŠOVEC, M., CIMERMAN, N., NIELSEN, H.-J., CHRISTENSEN, I.J., BRÜNNER, N. (2000): Cysteine proteinase inhibitors stefin A, stefin B, and cystatin C in sera from patients with colorectal cancer: relation to prognosis. Clin. Cancer Res. 6, 505-511.

• TURK, V., KOS, J., TURK, B. (2004) Cysteine cathepsins (proteases) - on the main stage of cancer? Cancer Cell 5, 409-410.

• KOS, J., VIŽIN, T., PEČAR FONOVIĆ, U., PIŠLAR, A. (2014). Intracellular signaling by cathepsin X: molecular mechanisms and diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities in cancer. Seminars in Cancer Biol. 31, 76-83.

• MITROVIĆ, Ana, ZAVRŠNIK, Janja, MIKHAYLOV, Georgy, KNEZ, Damijan, PEČAR FONOVIĆ, Urša, MATJAN-ŠTEFIN, Petra, BUTINAR, Miha, GOBEC, Stanislav, TURK, Boris, KOS, Janko. Evaluation of novel cathepsin-X inhibitors in vitro and in vivo and their ability to improve cathepsin-B directed antitumor therapy. Cellular and molecular life sciences. 2022, 79, no. 1, 34-1-34-14.

• PIŠLAR, Anja, MITROVIĆ, Ana, SABOTIČ, Jerica, PEČAR FONOVIĆ, Urša, PERIŠIĆ, Milica, JAKOŠ, Tanja, SENJOR, Emanuela, KOS, Janko. The role of cysteine peptidases in coronavirus cell entry and replication : the therapeutic potential of cathepsin inhibitors. PLOS pathogens. 2020, 16, 1-23.

Honours and Awards • 1993: Royal Society, short-term fellowship • 1998: Award for scientific achievement, International Journal of Oncology, Athens • 2000: Research Award, Community of Novo Mesto, Slovenia • 2002: Zois Award for important scientific achievements, Republic of Slovenia • 2009: Lapanje Award for research work, Slovenian Biochemical Society • 2009: Award for “The Supervisor of the Year,” Slovenian Young Researcher Academy • 2013: Zois Award for outstanding achievements in science in the field of Proteolysis, the highest scientific award in the Republic of Slovenia • 2015: Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts • 2021: Lifetime Achievement Award, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy • 2022: Lapanje Plaquette for promotion of biochemistry, Slovenian Biochemical Society

Citations Kos’s work has been cited over 11,000 times according to Web of Science (WoS) and over 15,000 times according to Google Scholar, with an h-index of 57 (WoS) and 71 (Google Scholar).