Walter Schunack

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Walter Schunack (2010)

Walter Schunack (born March 21, 1935 in Kölleda ; † April 6, 2011 ) was a German pharmacist and doctor and holder of the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class. He worked as a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and at the Free University of Berlin and as such played a key role in the establishment of modern medical chemistry and clinical pharmacy at German universities.

Life

childhood

Walter Schunack came on March 21, 1935 as the son of the teacher Richard Schunack and his wife Käthe geb. Hilpert in the small town of Kölleda in Thuringia . His enthusiasm for pharmacy was aroused there early on . The pharmaceutical newspaper wrote in 2010:

“Although there was not a single pharmacist in his family, his interest in pharmacy awoke early on, as he [...] reported. 'Because on the one hand my place of birth, Kölleda in Thuringia, was a center of medicinal plant cultivation, on the other hand my parents chose a very special woman to be my godmother, namely the owner of the only pharmacy in town. As a boy he spent a lot of time there, especially in the laboratory with the fascinating extraction system. 'I was already impressed at the time that pharmacists, based on a scientific foundation, do a very practice-oriented work.' "

In 1951 Schunack moved to Rüsselsheim together with his parents .

career

Grave in the Nikolassee cemetery

After graduating from high school in 1955, Schunack became a pharmacist and passed the pharmaceutical pre-examination at the regional council in Darmstadt . He then studied pharmacy at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and graduated in 1960 with the state examination. In 1964 he received his doctorate as Dr. rer. nat. with Hans Rochelmeyer . He also completed a subsequent medical degree in 1970 with the state examination. In 1971 he received his habilitation and the following year he was appointed adjunct professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In 1978 Schunack received his doctorate in medicine under Wilfried Lorenz at the Philipps University of Marburg . In 1984 he was appointed to a professorship at the Free University of Berlin, where he held the chair for pharmaceutical chemistry until his retirement in 2003 . From 1987 to 1992 he was also Vice President of the Free University of Berlin and from 1987 to 2008 scientific advisory board of the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists . He died on April 6, 2011 after a serious illness. His grave is in the Nikolassee cemetery .

Scientific Research

The main focus of his scientific work consisted in researching the effects of the body's own messenger substance histamine and substances derived from it on the organism. He developed new biologically active substances with effect on histamine receptors , such as the histamine H1-receptor - agonists Histaprodifen , the histamine H2-receptor - radioligand [ 125 I] - Iodoaminopotentidin and the histamine H3 receptor - antagonists ciproxifan , which are used as tools in drug research. His research also resulted in the histamine H3 receptor antagonist pitolisant , which is currently in clinical trials as an awakening drug and is to be used for diseases that are associated with increased fatigue, such as narcolepsy, epilepsy and schizophrenia.

Political advisor

In addition to his research work, Walter Schunack was a sought-after advisor and contact person for all leading political parties . Through close contact with the Federal Ministry of Health and also in his role as a scientific advisory board to the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists, he was able to significantly shape the content of the licensing regulations for pharmacists when they were amended in 2000. In particular, the introduction of clinical pharmacy as an independent subject went back to Walter Schunack, who recognized the importance of this long-neglected branch of research early on and, with wise foresight, published the first German textbook on clinical pharmacy together with his colleagues.

Walter Schunack Prize

The German Pharmaceutical Society has awarded the Walter Schunack Prize once a year since 2013 . The prize is awarded for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of medicinal chemistry or clinical pharmacy and is aimed at doctoral students who received their doctorate no more than two years ago.

Awards and honors

Works and publications (excerpt)

  • Walter Schunack, Klaus Mayer, Manfred Haake: Medicinal substances: textbook of pharmaceutical chemistry . Vieweg, 1981, ISBN 3-528-08405-7 .
  • Gbahou F, Rouleau A, Morisset S, Parmentier R, Crochet S, Lin JS, Ligneau X, Tardivel-Lacombe J, Stark H, Schunack W, Ganellin CR, Schwartz JC, Arrang JM: Protean agonism at histamine H3 receptors in vitro and in vivo . In: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA . 100, No. 19, September 2003, pp. 11086-91. doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1932276100 . PMID 12960366 . PMC 196931 (free full text).
  • Morisset S, Rouleau A, Ligneau X, Gbahou F, Tardivel-Lacombe J, Stark H, Schunack W, Ganellin CR, Schwartz JC, Arrang JM: High constitutive activity of native H3 receptors regulates histamine neurons in brain . In: Nature . 408, No. 6814, December 2000, pp. 860-4. doi : 10.1038 / 35048583 . PMID 11130725 .
  • Hill SJ, Ganellin CR, Timmerman H, Schwartz JC, Shankley NP, Young JM, Schunack W, Levi R, Haas HL: International Union of Pharmacology. XIII. Classification of histamine receptors . In: Pharmacol. Rev. . 49, No. 3, September 1997, pp. 253-78. PMID 9311023 .
  • Ruat M, Traiffort E, Bouthenet ML, Schwartz JC, Hirschfeld J, Buschauer A, Schunack W: Reversible and irreversible labeling and autoradiographic localization of the cerebral histamine H2 receptor using [125I] iodinated probes . In: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA . 87, No. 5, March 1990, pp. 1658-62. PMID 2308927 . PMC 53541 (free full text).
  • Arrang JM, Garbarg M, Lancelot JC, Lecomte JM, Pollard H, Robba M, Schunack W, Schwartz JC: Highly potent and selective ligands for histamine H3-receptors . In: Nature . 327, No. 6118, 1987, pp. 117-23. doi : 10.1038 / 327117a0 . PMID 3033516 .

Web links

Commons : Walter Schunack  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Schunack, Klaus Mayer, Manfred Haake: Medicinal substances: Textbook of pharmaceutical chemistry . 2. revised Edition. Vieweg Verlag, Braunschweig and Wiesbaden 1998 ISBN 3-528-18405-1
  2. ^ Bettina Sauer: Berlin Chamber of Pharmacists appoints Walter Schunak as an honorary member . In: Pharmazeutische Zeitung , Volume 155, July 1, 2010, p. 2495/55
  3. ↑ Manfred Stürzbecher: On the death of Walter Schunak . In: Berliner Ärzte , 6/2011, p. 31, aebberlin.de (PDF)
  4. ↑ On the death of Professor Schunack. In: Deutsche Apothekerzeitung . 2011, No. 15, April 14, 2011, p. 115.
  5. ↑ Elz S, Kramer K, Pertz HH, et al. : Histaprodifens: synthesis, pharmacological in vitro evaluation, and molecular modeling of a new class of highly active and selective histamine H (1) -receptor agonists . In: J. Med. Chem. . 43, No. 6, March 2000, pp. 1071-1084. PMID 10737740 .
  6. ↑ Ruat M, Traiffort E, Bouthenet ML, et al. : Reversible and irreversible labeling and autoradiographic localization of the cerebral histamine H2 receptor using [125I] iodinated probes . In: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA . 87, No. 5, March 1990, pp. 1658-62. PMID 2308927 . PMC 53541 (free full text).
  7. ↑ Kathmann M, Schlicker E, Marr I, Werthwein S, Stark H, Schunack W: Ciproxifan and chemically related compounds are highly potent and selective histamine H3-receptor antagonists . In: Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol . 358, No. 6, December 1998, pp. 623-7. PMID 9879720 .
  8. ^ Ulrich Jaehde, Roland Radziwill, Stefan Mühlebach, Walter Schunack: Textbook of Clinical Pharmacy . 1st edition. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8047-1621-0
  9. ↑ Call for applications - Walter Schunack Prize 2013 . DPhG
  10. ↑ Press release of the State of Berlin of April 8, 2002: Cross of Merit 1st Class to Prof. Dr. Walter Schunack
personal data
SURNAME Schunack, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pharmacist and physician
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Koelleda
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 2011