Dr. Jan Potempa earned his PhD and DSc (habilitation) in Biochemistry in 1982 and 1993, respectively, from Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. In 1985-1988 he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Georgia and from 1989 to 2008, he worked there as a Senior Research Scientist.  From January 2009, Dr. Potempa was recruited to the University of Louisville Dental School as a Professor and Academic Scholar.  Simultaneously, Dr. Potempa maintained his teaching and research position at the Jagiellonian University since 1983, where he was head of Department of Microbiology since 2001 and promoted to Research Professor in 2005.  His current scientific interest revolves around proteolytic events in the pathogenicity of infectious diseases.  Dr. Potempa’s research achievements are highly recognized internationally. Of note, for a decade (1995-2005) he was the second most cited scientist in Poland.

In 2020, Dr. Potempa received an honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in recognition of his ground-breaking research into the ability of oral bacteria to break down the blood-brain barrier and their role in the development of Alzheimer's disease.