Current Drug Research Reviews

Paolo Mannelli graduated from medical school in 1986 and completed his residency in Psychiatry at the Universita’ Cattolica S.Cuore in Rome, Italy. He moved to the U.S. and has fully developed his academic and research activity at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA and at Duke University in Durham, NC where he currently works. His interests in drug addiction encompass neurobiological, translational, and clinical aspects of substance use disorders, in particular intoxication and withdrawal from opioids, alcohol and cocaine, as well as biological markers of disease and comorbid disorders. He has participated in national treatment development and guideline panels.

Prof. Francesco Paolo Busardò obtained his Degree with honor in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Palermo (Italy), winning the Prize for the Best Thesis; he also got a MSc in Forensic Toxicology at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and a PhD in Forensic Science at “Sapienza” University of Rome (Italy), where he currently works as researcher in forensic toxicology. He is author of more than 100 papers with I.F., with a total I.F. higher than 290 and h-index of 13.

Roberta Agabio has a degree in Medicine and PhDs in both Clinical Pharmacology and Psychiatry. She is Assistant Professor at the University of Cagliari, Italy. Her research is focused on the pharmacotherapy of alcohol use disorder, gender and sex differences in the field of addiction, early identification of excessive alcohol consumption and use of brief intervention to prevent alcohol use disorder. She is an active teacher in the field of alcohol use disorder. She is co-author of more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 15 book chapters.

Dr Aljabali is a Nanoscientist working on the interface of nanoscience and technology in the area or drug-delivery, drug targeting, pharmaceutical nanotechnology and molecular imaging. Aljabali works a bionanotechnologiest at John Innes Centre-UK followed by another 3 years as a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University-UK. Curruntly, working as associate professor of nanotechnology and biotechnology at Yarmouk university. Dr Aljabali has more than 40 publications on top ranking journals. Dr Aljabali is a fellow of research conduct and ethics from University of California San Diego.

Dr. Majid Asadi-Samani has completed his PhD in Medical immunology. As a researcher that has studied at the Cellular and Molecular Research Center and the Medical Plants Research Center of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, he mainly completed his information around some desired issues especially in biomedical sciences, phytomedicine, pharmacognosy, immunotoxicology, and cancer research. He seeks to understand how local people use medicinal plants to treat diseases so that these plants can ultimately be used to prevent and treat human diseases. He has published more than 100 scientific papers in peer review international journals and greatly presented his works in more than 20 national and international congresses. Recently, he has focused on the effects of medicinal plants and their derivatives to can discover new anticancer drugs to prevent and treat cancer especially breast cancer and prostate cancer.

João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia, MD is an Affiliated Professor at Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, Fundação do ABC, and PhD student at Departament of Psychiatry, Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo. He is President of the ABC Center for Mental Health Studies and holds the position of Early Career Psychiatrist Observer of the Scientific Publications Committee of the World Psychiatric Association. He is also the Member In-Training of the Scientific Publications Committee of the College of Problems on Drug Dependence. His research interests are in addiction, cultural and social psychiatry and epidemiology.

Dr. Ricardo David Couto graduated in Pharmacy (1998) and he also obtained a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Pharmacy (Clinical Analysis) degree from the University of São Paulo (2000 - 2005). He is currently working as an Associate Professor III position at UFBA. He has a vast experience in the area of Laboratory Diagnosis of Diseases, with emphasis on validation and development of diagnostic tests, lipoproteins, human and experimental atherosclerosis. His areas of expertise are Health Sciences and particularly Pharmacy (subareas are lipídios, lipoproteínas e atherosclerosis experimental). Dr. Couto has published around 50 articles in Scientific Journals so far.

Dr. Mitch Earleywine (B.A. Columbia, Ph.D. Indiana) is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he teaches course on drugs and human behavior, substance abuse treatment and clinical research methods. He has received over 20 teaching commendations, including the coveted General Education Teaching Award from the University of Southern California and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching from the State University of New York system. He has over 150 publications, including the books “Understanding Marijuana” (Oxford University Press) and “The Parents’ Guide to Marijuana” (Trans High Press).

Dr Mark Gillman is a renowned brain researcher and addictionologist and has lectured on nitrous oxide sedation over 250 times to lay and scientific audiences locally and internationally. He has over 300 publications including 5 full-length books, and a CD on the technique of conscious sedation with nitrous oxide. He has and had academic appointments in SA, Europe and North America. Recently, he advised the Ningxia Provincial Government (China) on addiction treatments with nitrous oxide. He has held numerous editorial advisory appointments at leading medical and scientific journals. Using conscious sedation with nitrous oxide, he and colleagues discovered the new principle of biology (Gaseous neurotransmission). They also uncovered endorphin links to pain and pleasure and addiction.

Rebecca Houston received her Ph.D. in Applied Biopsychology from the University of New Orleans and completed an NIAA funded postdoctoral position in the Alcohol Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She then served as a Senior Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York from 2004 to 2016. Dr. Houston is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on neuropsychological and psychophysiological correlates of impulsivity and aggression within the context of substance use disorder risk and treatment.

Dr. C. Karthikeyan is presently working as Assistant professor - Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Department of Pharmacy, IGNTU, Amarkantak, India where he has been on faculty since 2017. Dr. Karthikeyan's research is focused on application of novel strategies for small molecule drug discovery for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Karthikeyan has published more than 60 papers in high impact journals and has filed three international patent for the discovery of some anticancer molecules. He is also member of editorial boards of several prestigious journals and a recipient of ‘Innovation Award’ for the discovery of anticancer molecule given by CMAI Association of India, New Delhi-2016.

Dr. Junichi Kitanaka is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Hyogo College of Medicine in Nishinomiya, Japan. He received his PhDs in Pharmacology from Osaka University and from Hyogo College of Medicine. Dr. Kitanaka completed his post-doctoral fellowship from the Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse-NIH, USA, under the supervision of Dr. George Uhl. His research focuses on signs and symptoms of methamphetamine abuse and addiction. This includes research on behavioral analyses under acute methamphetamine overdose; studies of pharmacotherapy on methamphetamine abuse; and research on pathophysiological association of methamphetamine effects with brain histaminergic neuronal system. He also serves on the DAD editorial board since 2012.

Dr. Krystal is the Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research, Professor of Neuroscience, and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine. He is also chief of Psychiatry for Yale New Haven Hospital and Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Division of the VA National Center for PTSD and the NIAAA Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism. Dr. Krystal studies the neurobiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders and alcoholism using experimental psychopharmacology, neuroimaging, genetics, and computational approaches.

Luisa Carlota Lopez-Cara was born in Granada. 1999 Degree in Pharmacy, 2005 PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences 2005-2009 Post-Doctoral Fellowship Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Ferrara and Department of Chemistry of Emory University. 2009- 2012. Researcher in Department of Medicinal and Organic Chemistry of the University of Granada. 2012-today Associate Professor It was engaged in the study of bioactive molecules with antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects. Actually her research interests concern the design, synthesis and SARs study of new molecules endowed with antiproliferative activity both in vitro and in vivo and in particular of the mechanisms that lead to cell death. She is author of about 75 scientific papers in qualified peer review journals. She is holder of many Spanish and European patents concerning the antitumoral molecules.

Dr. Palash Mandal, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at P. D. Patel Institute of Applied Sciences of CHARUSAT University. In 1995, Dr. Mandal received his B.Sc in Chemistry at the University of Kolkata. He earned his M.Sc degree in Biochemistry in 1997 from the University of Kalyani. Dr. Mandal completed his PhD degree at Bose Institute and Jadavpur University. He obtained post-doctoral and research associate training from department of Immunology and Pathobiology of Cleveland Clinic, USA (2003-2010). His research interests include: TLR4 signaling, oxidative stress and inflammation in both alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver diseases.

Ayman Hamdan-Mansour completed his PhD in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. Currently he is a professor in psychiatric mental health nursing at the school of nursing, university of Jordan. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and been keynote speaker in national and international mental health conferences. He has received more than five commendations in past five years including the distinguished researcher award in Jordan and the distinguished researcher at the University of Jordan two times, and distinguished researcher in Arab World from the Society of the Arab Faculties of Nursing. He has also served as consultant in the field of substance use and mental health services for number of national and international organizations including the WHO, JICA, UNESCO, NCFA, HPC, and USAIDS. Research focus including include youth mental health and substance related problems and has many publication in this field.

Prosper N’Gouemo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC, USA. His research focuses on the basic mechanisms of epileptogenesis, seizures and epilepsy, as well as the neurobiology of alcohol withdrawal seizures and pediatrics seizures related to prenatal alcohol exposure. The Georgetown University Medical Center honored N’Gouemo for his efforts with the GUMC Research Recognition Award at the Fourth Annual GUMC Convocation.

Dr Najafi is radiobiology and medical physic specialist with a MSc in radiobiology from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and PhD in medical physics obtained from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences. At this moment, he is working on exploring new radioprotectors and radiomitigators. He has published more than 70 scientific papers concerning the cancer biology and radiobiology.

Mary C. Olmstead is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Her work focuses on understanding biological underpinnings of reward systems and how these impact conditions such as drug addiction and chronic pain. Dr. Olmstead completed degrees at the University of Toronto (BSc) and McGill University (MSc, PhD) as well as postdoctoral training at University of Cambridge, UK. She has held Visiting Scientist positions in France, both at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellualaire in Strasbourg and the Centre d’ecologie fonctionalle et evolutive, Université de Montpellier.

Dr. Pacchioni was born in Argentina where she received her doctoral degree in Neuropharmacology from Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas-Universidad Nacional de Cordoba in September 2004. Then, from November 2004 to September 2009 she had a postdoctoral position in the Department of Neurosciences at Medical University of South Carolina, where she worked under the supervision of Dr Peter Kalivas and Dr. Ron See. Since October 2009, she is back in her home country, where she holds a faculty position at the National University of Rosario and at CONICET. Her research interests are focus on the study of the molecular basis of drug addiction to find new and improved treatments. She has published 20 papers in peer reviewed international journals.

Shafiqur Rahman, Ph.D. is Professor of Pharmacology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at South Dakota State University in Brookings, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. Dr. Rahman completed his post-doctoral fellowship from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis in USA. His research focus is drug discovery in neuropharmacology, i.e. the development of novel therapeutic candidates for the treatment of drug addiction and neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Rahman has authored over 120 scientific publications, edited multiple books in CNS disorders and drug addiction field, and served on editorial boards of several biomedical Journals.

Dr. Yury Evgeny Razvodovsky is currently holding a position of Professor in International Academy of Sobriety. He has worked as associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and a senior research scientist in the Scientific Laboratory (Alcohol and Drug-Related Problems Research Group) at the Grodno State Medical University (Belarus). He has published about 1000 papers in English and Russian language peer-reviewed journals and 30 monographs. He is a founding member of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM), presiding member of the International Academy of Sobriety (IAS), national representative for Belarus of World Suicidology Net and is an active member of National Association of Psychiatrists. His research interests include the epidemiology of suicides and different aspects of alcohol and drug-related problems.

Dr. Saddichha Sahoo is a Consultant Psychiatrist who works in both private and public health and also serves as the Clinical Director of ECT at Ipswich Hospital. Additionally, he is a committee member of the Evidence Based Practice Committee of the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatry and a Specialist Advisor to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia. He also teaches at the University of Queensland where he holds a position of Associate Professor. Notably, Dr. Saddichha Sahoo has authored more than 110 papers and is the recipient of several research awards.

Dr. Sher obtained a doctorate (Ph.D) in clinical psychology from Indiana University. He is currently Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri. His main areas of research focus on the etiology of alcoholism, refining addiction-related phenotypes, personality and psychopathology, and longitudinal research methods. He has published over 250 papers and is the author of Children of Alcoholics: A Critical Appraisal of Theory and Research (1991), co-author of Binge Drinking and Alcohol Misuse Among College Students and Young Adults (2015), and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders (2016).

Dr. Linda Carter Sobell is the President’s Distinguished Professor at Nova Southeastern (FL). She received her PhD in psychology (University of California, Irvine). She is nationally and internationally known for her research in the addictions field. She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, Board Certified in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology, ABPP, on the Board of Scientific Affairs (APA), and past president of ABCT. She has published over 300 articles and book chapters, serves on 9 peer-reviewed editorial boards, and authored 9 books. She has been the recipient of several federal grants and has received several awards.

Aviv M. Weinstein, Ph.D is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral Science in Ariel University in Israel. He did his Ph.D in Psychology in the Psychology Dept. and the Psychopharmacology Unit School of Medical Sciences with David Nutt at the University of Bristol in the UK. He was a visiting research fellow at the Brain Imaging Center, Intramural Research Program (IRP) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital in Baltimore, MD USA where he was trained with Dr. Edythe London in PET brain imaging in drug addiction. He established a laboratory for brain imaging in drug addiction in the Depts. of Nuclear Medicine at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv and in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem Israel. He published more than 70 manuscripts and book chapters on drug and behavioral addiction.

Dr. Yoon is a staff psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. His research interests include (1) pharmacotherapy for addictive disorders (especially alcohol use disorder) and (2) pharmacotherapy for psychiatric disorders (especially major depressive disorder).

Dr. Kouichi Yoshimasu, MD, PhD, is a psychiatrist and an associate professor at Wakayama Medical University (Japan) as well as research collaborator at Mayo Clinic. His research interests are epidemiology and etiology of mental disorders, especially neurodevelopmental disorders.

Wim van den Brink (1952) received his medical degree in 1981 in Amsterdam and his PhD degree in 1989 in Groningen. Since 1992 he is full professor of Psychiatry and Addiction at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. In 2014 he received the life time achievement award for science from the Netherlands Association of Psychiatry. He is (co)author of more than 500 scientific papers (HI=55) and has been a thesis advisor of 65 PhD students. He is one of the chief-editors of European Addiction Research. He is one of the founders and the president of the International Collaboration of ADHD and Substance Abuse (ICASA).

F. Arbinaga, PhD, professor in Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Science at University of Huelva (Spain). In 1988, he graduated from the University of Seville (Spain). For more than 20 years, Félix had worked as a Clinical Psychology Specialist in the field of substance abuse and behavioral addictions. Nowadays, he develops his professional activity in the field of exercise and health, the use of substances in sports and addiction to exercise.

Giulia Bivona is a Medical Doctor working at the University of Palermo, Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and advanced Diagnostics as a Clinical Biochemistry Investigator and teaching Clinical Biochemistry at Palermo School of Medicine. She is Author of several scientific articles in the field of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. She has been invited to take part in several conferences as moderator and as speaker. She is Lead Guest Editor of the Special Issue “Vitamin D metabolism and synthesis in health and disease” for the International peer-reviewed Journal “Journal of Chemistry”. She is reviewer and member of the Editorial Board of the Journal “Practical Laboratory Medicine”.

Simona Gurzu has graduated in 2005 (MD) and obtained the PhD title in 2008 and Habilitated Doctor title (PhD coordinator) in 2013. Now she is Consultant Pathologist, Professor of Pathology, Head of Pathology and Microscopy Department at the Research Center and Member in the Scientific Council of PhD School, at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tirgu-Mures, Romania. She is also head of Department of Clinical Pathology at Clinical Emergency County Hospital, Tirgu-Mures, Romania. More than 120 publications with over 400 citations.

Assoc. Prof., Dr hab. Tomasz M. Karpiński is the Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences (PUMS), Poland. He received DDS from PUMS and MSc in Biology from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He also completed Postgraduate Studies: Laboratory Medicine at the PUMS, and Internet and mobile technologies at the Poznań University of Technology. He has Specialization in Medical microbiology. He obtained a PhD and DSc (habilitation) in microbiology from PUMS. He is an Expert of the National Centre for Research and Development. He is an editorial board member and guest editor of some journals and reviewer for more than 30 journals. He has about 80 publications in the field of medical microbiology, pharmacology and medical chemistry. His research interests are in the areas of human microbiome, bacterial pathogenesis, DNA viruses, biologically active agents of bacterial origin, antibacterial and anticancer substances/drugs, and carcinogenesis.

Dr. Yasser Shahzad is currently working as an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics at the Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Lahore Campus. He has formulation science background with extensive experience from both industry and academia. He has a particular interest in drug delivery research at the interface of chemistry and pharmaceutics, and publishes regularly in internationally recognized peer- reviewed journals. He earned doctoral degree in Pharmaceutics from University of Huddersfield (United Kingdom, 2014), and holds a postdoc from Pharmacen, North-West University (South Africa, 2015).

Dr.D.Sivaraman is a Pharmacologist who received his Ph.D in the field of neurodegenerative disease from The Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical University. He is currently serving as a distinguished Scientist at the research and development unit of Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai. Dr.D.Sivaraman is a recognized expert on Toxicological and Pharmacological profiling of synthetic molecule, new drug entities, herbs and other AYUSH formulations in selective pre-clinical animal models. He is accomplished researcher in neurodegenerative disorders. Having excellent skills in Experimental Pharmacology, Animal research, In-vivo, In-vitro and In-Silico screening models for the evaluation of safety and efficacy of investigational molecules. Further, his expertise widely covers Alzheimer’s research, Molecular biology, Novel Drug Delivery Systems and Phytomedicine. As a passionate researcher so far he has published more than 50 research publications in various international peer reviewed journals including two book publications in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and ulcer research. He is a reviewer and editorial board member of more than 30 International Journals. Dr.D.Sivaraman is a life member of various professional bodies like Indian Pharmacological Society, Laboratory Animal Scientist Association of India, Indian Pharmacists Association, Asian Council of Science Editors and Tamil Nadu state Pharmacy Council. In 2019 his remarkable achievements in the field of preclinical research have been officially enrolled in kalam’s book of world records. In 2018 he received International council for lab animal science award for young investigator (ICLAS) an highest accreditation for lab animal scientist followed by this Sir C.V.Raman National Award for excellence in research. In In 2017 he bagged Har Gobind Khorana Best Young Scientist Award. In 2015 he received the most prestigious Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Young Scientist Award. In 2013 he received Motivation of Excellence Award from Governor of Tamil Nadu and in the same year he has received the Dhronachariya Award from Rotary club of ERA, Chennai. In 2012 he received the highest blood donor award from the Indian Red Cross society. He has received more than 24 international and national awards for his contribution to the field of preclinical research.

Dr. Sizochenko is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College, Department of Computer Science (NH, USA). Her current research stands at the interface of chemical and biological modeling with the focus on nanomaterials design and protein-inspired antibiotics engineering. She holds the doctoral degree in chemistry (specialization: physical and theoretical chemistry) from University of Gdansk (Poland, 2016) and master's degree in chemistry (specialization: organic chemistry) from Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University (Ukraine, 2011).

I am a biochemist with academic training in enzymology. I have 12+ year industry experience in drug discovery with track record of delivering high quality small molecule hits, leads and clinical candidates for therapeutic targets covering oncology, immuno-inflammation, cardiovascular, metabolic and infectious disease areas. I also build and apply new technologies and capabilities to aid drug discovery. I have direct experience of line management and matrix leadership roles. I am skilled of building win-win collaborations, both internally and externally.