Moussa B. H. Youdim

Moussa B. H. Youdim is an internationally renowned Israeli neuroscientist specializing in neurochemistry and neuropharmacology. He is the discoverer of both monoamine oxidase (MAO) B inhibitors l-deprenyl (Selegiline) and rasagiline (Azilect) as anti-Parkinson drugs which possess neuroprotective activities. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Technion - Faculty of Medicine and President of Youdim Pharmaceuticals.

Moussa B.H. Youdim

Early life

Youdim was born in Tehran, Iran second of five children. His father worked and traded with the British and wanted that the boys to be educated in England. He and his brother were sent to England boarding school in UK. He had an ambition to go to medical school to study medicine and obtained his preclinical studies in Borough Polytechnique in London. he was accepted at McGill University in Montreal where he aobtained his B.Sc degree. A lecture in neurochemsitry changed his mind about medical degree and decided to study brain chemistry.

Scientific career

Youdim upon joining Professor Theodore L Sourkes's laboratory at Allan Memorial Institute, McGill Department of Psychiatry, he began to work on the M.Sc focusing on charactritics of the enzume monoamine oixdase (MAO) , followed by Ph.D. He has focused most of his life on the field of neurochemistry and neuropharmacology of aminergic neurotransmitters in health and disease. In his M.Sc. and Ph.D. Studies he purified mitochondrial MAO and demonstrated two forms of the enzymes, which were later named A and B by Johnson ( 1968). One of his most important contributions to science was working with Professor Merton Sandler in London University Post Gradaue School to study MAO inhibitors as anti-depressants and anti-Parkinson drugs. While at Oxford University Medical School, a chance meeting with Professor Peter Riederer resulted in employing the MAO-B inhibitor, l-deprenyl (Later named selegiline) a failed anti depressant, in Parkinson's disease, since the human brain basal ganglia were rich in MAO-B and dopamine. The clinical study was a success and was confirmed by others in clinical studies and eventual approval of selegiline by FDA.

At Technion in Haifa he discovered the second MAO B inhibitor , AGN1135, which was 20 times more potent than selegiline. Together with Prof. John Finberg and Teva Pharmecueitacl AGN1135 was developed as an anti Parkinson's Disease drug called, rasagiline (Azilect), aprroved by FDA in 2006.This drug had neuroprotective activity in cell culture and in vivo animal models of Parknonson's disease.

He pioneered the study of brain iron dysregulation on brain function. This included its nutritional deficiency, which results in cognitive impairment and learning process in animal models and children with nutritional iron deficiency. And iron accumulation in brain neurons that degenerate resulting in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases and ALS (amyotropic lateral sclerosis), where iron intiated oxidative stress may induce the process neurodgenration. He was the first to demostrate that iron chelators desfral and VK-28 were neuroprotective in animal models of Parkinson's Disease. His other pioneering contribution is the developemnt of multi taget drugs for treatment of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases.


Youdim has published almost nine hundred papers and reviews and edited 45 books in neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, multi-target drug development, and transcriptomics.

Academic career
  • 1966–1971. Post-doctoral fellow at University of London Post Graduate School, Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital in Merton Sandler's laboratory
  • 1971. Department of Biochemistry Cambridge University in K.F. Tipton's laboratory
  • 1972. Wellcome Trust Fellow at College de France in Paris at Jacques Glowinski's laboratory
  • 1973–1977. Oxford University, MRC Unit of Clinical Pharmacology and Faculty of Medicine
  • 1977–1995. Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Medical School, Professor and Chairman
  • 1983–2010. Finkelstein Professor of Life sciences, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
  • 1991–1999. International Scholar in Residence at NIH Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in Human Health Sciences, Bethesda
  • 1997–2012. Directors of Eve Top Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research and Teaching and USA National Parkinson Disease Center of Excellence, Technion Faculty of Medicine
  • 2006-2008 Distinguished Scientific Professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Department of Anatomy Hong Kong University
  • 2008–2013. Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology at Yonsei World Class University Programme, Seoul, South Korea.

He holds professorships at Armed Forces University Medical School in Bethesda; and in China Janin University, Materia Medica Shanghai University of Chinese Traditional Medicine; Ruijin Medical school, Shanghai and Qingdao University.

Industry involvement

Youdim served as consultant to Roche, TEVA Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Ciba Geigy, and Continental Pharmaceuticals,Brussels. He is president and CSO of Youdim Pharmaceutical. He is a discoverer of the anti-Parkinson drugs selelgiline (l-deprenyl) and developer of monoamine oxidase B inhibitor rasagiline (Azilect), which was considered to be the first disease modifying drug used for Parkinson's disease and TVP 3326, ladostigil, for Alzheimer's disease.[1][2] Experts have recently questioned whether rasagiline actually has significant disease modifying properties.[3]

Recognition
  • 1972 Wellcome Trust Fellow at College de France, Paris
  • 1974. Anna Monika International Prize, Basel, Switzerland.
  • 1974. British Migraine Association Special Gold Medal, London, UK.
  • 1978. The Homayoon (Royal) Medal from the Shah, Tehran, Iran.
  • 1980. National Israel Psychobiology Institute Prize, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • 1986. Michael Landau Research Prize, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • 1984. United States Department of Commerce, Inventor's Award, Isolation and cuLture of Adrenal Meduallry Endothelial Cells Producing Blood Clotting Factor 8.
  • 1990. Senator Burda International Prize for Parkinson's disease, Vienna, Austria.
  • 1991. Claudius Galenus Gold Medal Prize Drug of the year l-Deprenyl (selegiline), Berlin, Germany.
  • 1991. Deutscher Neuropharmakologie (AGNP) Prize, Nuremberg, Germany.
  • 1991. Eli Lilly Prize for Neuropharmacology, Indianapolis, USA.
  • 1993. The New England Prize of Excellence in Science, Boston, USA.
  • 1994 and 1977. Henning Andersen Prize, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • 1997. "Honoris Causa" Honorary Doctor of Philosophy, Semmelweiss University Medical School, Hungary.
  • 1998. "Honoris Causa" Honorary Doctor Of the Philosophy University of Pisa and Ecole Superior Nationale, Pisa, Italy.
  • 2006. Henry Taub Prize for Excellence in Research, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
  • 2006. Nathan Shock Lecture, NIH Institute of Aging, Bethesda, USA.
  • 2007. Melvin Yahr Lecture, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA.
  • 2007. World Federation of Neurology 17th International Congress of Parkinson's disease Award for Contribution to Parkinson's disease, Amsterdam, Netherland.
  • 2008. Thomas Schkeler Lecture, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA.
  • 2009. Shanghai Baiyulan Award, Ruijin Medical School. Shanghai, China.
  • 2010. Elected Member of Leopoldina German Academy of Sciences, Halle, Germany.
  • 2011. Theodore l. Sourkes lecture, Parkinson's disease, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
  • 2011. European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Life Time Achievement Prize in Neuropsychopharmacology, Amsterdam, Netherland.
  • 2011. EMET Prize for Brain Science, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • 2012 Giant Pioneer of Catecholamine Research Prize, National Institute Of Health, 11th International Catecholamine Congress, Asilomar, USA.
  • 2012 CINP (International College of Neuropsychopharmacology) Pioneering Neuropsychopharmacology Prize, Stockholm.
  • 2012 Arvid Carlsson Medal, CINP, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • 2013 Elected Honorary Member of Israel Neuroscience Society.
  • 2022 The Israel Prize in Life Sciences Research, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • 2023 The Maimonides Rambam Award, Haifa, Israel.

Editorial boards

On the editorial boards of 40 journals, including British Journal of Pharmacology, Journal of Neurochemistry, Journal of Neural Transmission, Experimental Neurology, International Neurochemistry, Psychopharmacology. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, Archives of Pharmacology, Frontiers in Pharmacology, European Journal of Pharmacology, Biogenic Amines, Neuropsychobiology, Neurochemical Research; Brain Research, CNS Drug Review, Future Drugs, Drugs of Today, and Neurotherapeutics.

Publications

References
  1. Youdim, M.B. (November 2003). "Rasagiline: an anti-Parkinson drug with neuroprotective activity". Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 3 (6): 737–49. doi:10.1586/14737175.3.6.737. PMID 19810877. S2CID 23857497.
  2. Naoi, M.; Maruyama, W.; Youdim, M.B.; Yu, P.; Boulton, A.A. (2003). "Anti-apoptotic function of propargylamine inhibitors of type-B monoamine oxidase". Inflammopharmacology. 11 (2): 175–81. doi:10.1163/156856003765764344. PMID 15035819. S2CID 60465.
  3. Young, Donna (18 October 2011). "Panel: Teva's Azilect Data Close, but No Cigar for Parkinson's Delay Claim". michaeljfox.org. FoxFeed Blog. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
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