Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry

Dale Ding is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University Of Louisville School Of Medicine. He obtained his degree from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed residency in Neurological Surgery at the University of Virginia, research fellowships in vascular biology and cerebrovascular disease at the University of Virginia, a clinical fellowship in Cerebrovascular and Skull Base Surgery at Auckland City Hospital, and an ACGME/CAST-accredited fellowship in Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology at Barrow Neurological Institute. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons. His translational and clinical research efforts focus on hemorrhagic and ischemic cerebrovascular disorders.

Yuri N. Utkin received his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry from the Shemyakin Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. After earning the PhD degree he continued his career at the same Institute (now the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS), receiving a DSc degree in 1996 and being promoted to Professor in 2006. Prof. Utkin is the head of the laboratory of molecular toxinology. He has published more than 150 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals. Professor Utkin is a member of the European Society for Neurochemistry, the International Society on Toxinology, and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Dr. Laura Betti, obtained a PhD in Neurobiology and Clinic of Affective Disorders from the University of Pisa, Italy. In the same University, she also received her Speciality in Clinical Biochemistry and her Biological Degree. Currently Dr. Betti is a Researcher in Biochemistry at the Department of Pharmacy of the University of Pisa. She has over 20 years of the experience in the research of proteins and their role in transduction mechanisms in physiological and pathological conditions. She has published 100 publications in the fields of biochemistry, as well as clinical biochemistry and neurosciences with particular reference to neurotransmitters and receptor systems.

Dr. Bottai has obtained Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pisa, Italy and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is presently working as an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology, Department of Science Health University of Milan. He is Ordinary member of the Italian Society of Pharmacology. He is in Collaboration with International Scientific Journals such as Reviewer of The Lancet, Journal of Neurochemistry, Associated Editor: Frontiers in Stem Cells Treatments and Associated Editor: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. He has contributed more than 30 publications, having citations around 946.

F. Corelli was born in Italy. He graduated in Medicinal Chemistry at University of Rome La Sapienza and joined Artico's group. He served as the Chairman of the University of Siena and was appointed in the Scientific Committee of University of Pisa. He was the director of the Workshop in Synthetic Metodologies of the Italian Chemical Society. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Italian Chemical Society, EABM of Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry and a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He is the author of 8 patent applications, 198 scientific papers, 8 book chapters , more than 90 oral/poster communications. He has also been editor of a book.

Dr. Roberta Galeazzi got the Chemistry degree in 1992 at the University of Bologna cum laude and worked as researcher since January 1993 at the Polytechnic Marche University where actually she is assistant professor (SSD CHIM/06) of the Department of Life and Environmental Science (DISVA). Dr. Galeazzi’s main research activity concerns molecular docking and molecular dynamics profiling of novel active compounds or natural ligands to their receptors with the aim of rationalize the molecular basis of biological processes fundamental for the transductions of specific biochemical and physiological effects. She is co-author of 80 papers published on international peer-review journals and she attended to many congresses with oral and poster presentations.

Dr. Gentile is a recognized expert in the transglutaminase research area and has a strong background in the molecular biology and biochemical aspects of the transglutaminase (TG) enzymes expression, activity and function. His work has been focused to the tTG (TG2) characterization in normal and pathological cellular events (cell growth and differentiation, adhesion, apoptosis, neurodegeneration) by biochemical and molecular biology studies. Currently, Dr. Gentile is an Associate Professor at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

Dr. Horti is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland. He has devoted his career to the development of short-lived radiotracers for PET, in particular radioligands for imaging of cerebral receptors and enzymes in human subjects. His scientific results have been published in various peer-reviewed journals, invited reviews supported by NIH, private foundations and pharmaceutical industry. He also holds appointments on editorial boards for several scientific journals. He is an active member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and he has organized research sessions and continuing education sessions for a number of SNMMI meetings.

Dr. Hulme received a doctorate degree (D.Phil) in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, England. He currently is a full Professor at the University of Arizona and Director of the Medicinal Chemistry BIO5 Drug Discovery Core. Prior to moving to academia, Dr. Hulme built and managed several high-throughput medicinal chemistry organizations in industry (1994 – 2007, Sanofi, Amgen, Lilly), spanning a multitude of therapeutic areas including Neurodegeneration through the targeting of CNS kinases. Dr. Hulme has > 175 publications, book chapters, and patents.

Dr. Amar N Kar received his PhD in Neuroscience from the Northwestern University in 2010. He obtained M.S. (Biomedical Science) and B.S. (Microbiology) from the University of Delhi, India in 2002 and 2000 respectively. Currently, he is a Research Assistant Professor at the Univ. of SC, Jeff Twiss Lab. He is a highly motivated scientist with extensive experience in cellular and molecular neuroscience focusing on mitochondrial function and neurodegeneration. His research expertise includes in vitro models of neurodegeneration using primary, embryonic stem cell and chemically induced stem cell-derived cells, transcriptomics, proteomics, and translatomics, cell biological aspect (biochemistry, cell signalling, mitochondrial activity and microscopy) and in vivo central and peripheral nervous system injury models (utilization of animal models to evaluate small molecules as potential therapeutics). Besides, he has published several articles in distinguished journals.

Dr. Ravinder has done his MS (Pharm.) and Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from NIPER-SAS Nagar, India. He received his postdoctoral training at Yale School of Medicine, USA and Icahn School of medicine at Mount Sinai, NY. Dr. Ravinder has made an outstanding contribution in the field of pharmacological research and has elucidated the involvement of various pathogenic pathways like oxidative stress, PARP overactivation, inflammation, and apoptosis in cerebral ischemic-reperfusion injury and diabetic neuropathy. Gene regulation is another of his interest and he has developed various tools/methods to study the mechanisms of epigenetic memory. His work is published in journals of high repute and is highly cited. He is a reviewer and editorial board member of several international journals.

Dr. Beatrice Macchi is Assistant Professor in the Pharmacology Section of Department of Systems Medicine at University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. She is also Principal Investigator of the laboratory of molecular antiviral research in the Department of System Medicine, at University of Rome Tor Vergata. Her skills and expertise mainly lie in the subject areas of PCR, Cell Culture, Cancer Biology, Flow Cytometry, Proteins, Biotechnology, Infection, Apoptosis, Immunology of Infectious Diseases, HIV, Cancer Research, etc. Dr. Macchi, as an author/co-author, has published more than 90 articles in various journals, having over 1,200 total citations.

Dr. Meccariello obtained her Degree in Biology at the University of Naples Federico, Italy in 1997. She further got Ph.D. in Comparative Endocrinology at the University of Padova, Italy in 2004. She is presently serving as an Associate Professor of Biology at the Department of Movement and Wellness Sciences at Parthenope University of Naples, Italy. Her field of expertise is in Biology of reproduction, reproductive endocrinology, spermatogenesis, sperm quality, hypothalamus - pituitary - gonad (HPG) axis, endocannabinoids, endocrine disruptor chemicals, central and local regulation of testicular activity in vertebrates. She has contributed more than 80 publications, having citations around 1495.

Dr. Parang is Associate Dean of Research, Graduate Studies and Global Affairs and a Full Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology at Chapman University School of Pharmacy in Irvine, California. He earned a Pharm.D degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 1989. He received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy at University of Alberta in 1997, followed by a postdoctoral study in the fields of carbohydrate chemistry and solid-phase organic synthesis in Department of Chemistry. He pursued additional postdoctoral studies at Rockefeller University in New York and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in Bioorganic chemistry. He is an author of 170 peer-reviewed publications, 8 patents, and more than 140 meeting.

Prof. Charles Ramassamy has successively obtained his DEA (Diploma of Advanced Studies) in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at Paris V University, and a PhD in Neuroscience, option neuropharmacology, at the University of Rouen in France. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University, at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute Research Center in the laboratory of Dr. Judes Poirier, he became professor of pharmacology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, then professor at the INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier. He is also an associate professor at Laval University and a regular researcher at the Institute on Nutrition and Functional Foods, Laval University.

Dr. Federico Sesti is a Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers University. He received his Laurea and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Genova, Italy. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Benjamin Kaupp, Institut für Biologische Informationsverarbeitung, Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany) and in the laboratory of Steve Goldstein at Yale University (USA). He is a Fulbrigh Scholar, and member of several scientific societies. He serves in the editorial board of several journals and in international, federal and private funding agencies.

Dr. Rakesh Kumar Tiwari is currently an Assistant Professor of Biopharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences. He joined CUSP in September 2013. He received his Ph.D. (2006) in Organic Chemistry from Dr. B.R. Ambedker Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi. In 2007, Dr. Tiwari’s strong interest to conduct research in the area of application of chemistry in biology led him to pursue his postdoctoral research at University of Rhode Island. His postdoctoral work resulted in the synthesis of several peptide as neuroprotective agents, nanomaterials, kinase inhibitors as anticancer compounds, and many cell-penetrating peptide.

Dr. C. Vale is an Associate Professor in University of Santiago de Compostela, Faculty of Veterinary, Lugo. She completed her Degree in Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela. She further obtained PhD in Pharmacy, Neurochemistry, University of Barcelona (1998): neurotoxicity of organic pollutants. She also did the Postdoctoral at the Center for Neural Science, New York University. Supervisor: Dan H. Sanes. Study of synaptic plasticity in the auditory system (1998-2000). Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Castilla-La Mancha (2000-2004). 2004-Present: Study of marine toxins in neuronal systems, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

Dr. Asadi-Shekaari has more than 12 years experience in Electron Microscopy and is the author more than 50 scientific publications. Following a Ph.D. in Histology he took up a position as an academic staff of Kerman Neuroscience Research Center (KNRC). Dr. Asadi-Shekaari is a member of Japan Neuroscience Society (JNS) (Membership ID 1606152769), International Society of Neurochemistry (ISN) (Membership ID 23578), Iranian Neuroscience Society and International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). He is currently head of Electron and Histology laboratories of KNRC. His research area consists of experimental models of Cerebral Ischemia, Epilepsy and Alzheimer. He has served as a reviewer of Oncotarget, Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, Clinical and Experimental Physiology and Pharmacology (CEPP), Human and Experimental Toxicology (HET), Neural Regeneration Research (NRR), Iranian Journal of Pathology (IJP), and Current Topics in Neuroscience.

Dr. Maryam Noorbakhshnia is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Isfahan (Research and teaching different physiology courses to bachelor and master students). She did Ph.D. from Tehran University in 2007 (Major: physiology of the nervous system). Before that, she did her MSc from Tehran University in the year 2000 (Major: physiology of the nervous system).

Dr. Gentile is a recognized expert in the transglutaminase research area and has a strong background in the molecular biology and biochemical aspects of the transglutaminase (TG) enzymes expression, activity and function. His work has been focused to the tTG (TG2) characterization in normal and pathological cellular events (cell growth and differentiation, adhesion, apoptosis, neurodegeneration) by biochemical and molecular biology studies. Currently, Dr. Gentile is an Associate Professor at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.