Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy
The Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacology laid its foundations in 1919 as the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacognosy; from 1920, a pharmacy belonged to the department. The founder of the department was Prof. MUDr. Otakar Rybák, who headed the department from its foundation in 1919 until 1934. In 1935, the management of the department was taken over by prof. MVDr. Jaroslav Lebduška who led the department until 1952, when, as part of the reorganization of the university, the departments were transformed into smaller organizational units and the pharmacy was categorised under the system of national pharmacies. Prof. Lebduška headed the Department of Pharmacology until 1961 when he served simultaneously as director of the newly established Veterinary Research Institute in Brno (1956 to 1960). In 1961, prof. MVDr. Jan Šimůnek, DrSc. assumed the leadership of the department. In 1962, a toxicology section was integrated into the department. Prof. Šimůnek headed the department until 1986. At that time, the department became an important educational workplace creating a background for students interested in research activities who, under the guidance of prof. Šimůnek and Dr. Hegerová were able to gain significant experience in scientific activities. In 1986, prof. Jaroslav Neumann, DrSc. took charge of the department. In 1990, as part of the reorganization of the university, the Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology was established and the pharmacology section was assigned to this faculty; the head of this re-established department was prof. MVDr. Augustin Buš, CSc. who served in that position until 2001. The pharmacy operated as an independent pharmacy professionally connected to the department. In 2001, the toxicology section was separated from the department and the department was affiliated with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and prof. MVDr. Alfred Hera CSc. became head of the department. In 2003 a new pharmacy was established; however, it was subordinated to the Faculty of Pharmacy by the rector’s decision. Prof. Hera led the department until 2015. Since 2015, MVDr. Jan Chloupek, PhD, has been the head of the department.
Education
In the educational field, the department provides teaching of the basics of pharmacotherapy, which are applied in clinical therapeutic practice in diseases of all species and categories of animals. Education is carried out in the field of general pharmacology, the aim of which is to familiarize students with individual dosage forms, the specificity of their effect in individual species of animals, as well as mastering veterinary formulations in the field of prescription of proprietary medicinal products and magistral formula preparations. General pharmacology also includes a precise mastery of record maintenance of the use of medicinal products in veterinary practice. In the special pharmacology section, teaching is focused on clinical pharmacology, including the principles governing the use of drugs in animals, i.e. the legislative principles governing the use of drugs in food-producing animals, maximum residue limits, setting and compliance with withdrawal periods, pharmacovigilance, adverse drug reactions, the effects of the use of veterinary medicines on the environment, the protection of individual components of the ecosystem from the effects of residues of medicinal substances, the need to minimise the transmission of resistance of microbial agents, and the impact of the use of medicines on certain production technologies, particularly in the production of food and the processing of raw materials of animal origin.
The Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy provides teaching in the Czech and English master’s degree programmes in compliance with the syllabuses of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology. It guarantees the teaching of Pharmacology and Pharmacy I and II for both FVM and FVHE, which is conducted in the 4th and 5th semesters (2nd – 3rd year of the master’s degree programmes) and the teaching of Pharmacology and Pharmacy I and II for both FVM and FVHE, also in the 4th and 5th semesters of the master’s degree programme in English. The number of lessons and credits for students of FVM and FVHE is following – winter semester: lectures 2 hours per week, practical classes 2 hours per week, number of credits 4, summer semester: lectures 2 hours per week, practical classes 2 hours per week, number of credits 4. Since 2017, the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy has also guaranteed the teaching of the subject Medicines in Animal Care in the bachelor’s degree programme Animal Protection and Welfare for FVHE. This 4-credit course is carried out in the 5th semester of study and consists of 2 lessons of lectures and 1 lesson of practicals per week.
Research
In the field of science, the active research work of the department is focused on the testing of selected substances of natural origin and their combinations on the viability of tumour lines and antiviral effects. In connection with the considerable range of practical requirements, the research focus of the department is also on pharmacokinetic studies of selected parenterally administered drugs in off-label use.
Eminent professors in the history of the department
prof. MUDr. Otakar Rybák – founder of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacognosy, head of the department for many years (1919 to 1934), rector of the university from 1924 to 1925
prof. MVDr. Jaroslav Lebduška – an excellent pharmacologist, participating in the development of the Czech antibiotic – mycoin during the war, a long-standing head of the department (1935-1961), considered the best pharmacologist in the country in his day, a founder of the Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine in Medlánky and its first director
prof. MVDr. Jan Šimůnek, DrSc. – long-standing head of the department from 1961 to 1986 (25 years), a renowned veterinary pharmacologist
prof. MVDr. Jaroslav Neumann, DrSc. – worked at the department as a teacher, especially in the field of food hygiene, head of the department from 1986 to 1990, rector of the university from 1986 to 1990
prof. MVDr. Alfred Hera, CSc. – head of the department from 2001 to 2015, an expert on drug control, antibiotic resistance and pharmacovigilance, a long-standing expert in the European Medicines Agency and the EU Veterinary Pharmaceutical Committee, director of the Institute for State Control of Veterinary Biopreparations and Medicines from 1990 to 2015, and director of the Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine from 2019 to 2020
MVDr. Jan Chloupek, Ph.D. – current head of the department since 2015
MVDr. Jan Chloupek, Ph.D.
