BIO of Ferid Murad

X close

Prof. Ferid Murad, is a Biochemist best known for his 1977 pioneering discovery work on nitric oxide and its role in increasing the diameter of the cardiovascular and other blood vessels for which he was awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 along with Robert F. Furchgott and Louis J. Ignarro. The Nobel Committee evaluated that the identification of a biological role for nitric oxide was surprising for several reasons. Nitric oxide was known before the discovery mainly as a harmful air pollutant, released into the atmosphere from automobile engines and other combustion sources. In addition, it was a simple molecule, very different from the complex neurotransmitters and other signaling molecules that regulate many biological events. No other gas is known to act as a signaling molecule in the body. In addition to its use in cardiovascular drugs the work of Prof. Murad on nitric oxide led to the development of Viagra. Nitric oxide is the only gas known to act as a signaling molecule in the body, and regulates activities of the brain, intestines, kidneys, liver, lungs, stomach, and genitals.
Prof. Ferid Murad, attended DePauw University (1958), Western Reserve University (1965), and performed his internship and residency in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital as and MD/PhD physician scientist. He worked as a clinical associate in the Heart Institute from 1967-70 at the National Institutes of Health. From 1970-1981, Prof. Murad was on the faculty at the University of Virginia, where he developed a new Clinical Pharmacology Division in the Department of Medicine as an Associate Professor in Medicine and Pharmacology. In 1981, he was appointed as Chief of Medicine of the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital, a Stanford-affiliated hospital. He also served as a Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and the Associate Chairman of Medicine. Prof. Murad was acting Chairman of Medicine at Stanford University from 1986-1988. In 1988, Dr. Murad joined industry as Vice President at Abbott Laboratories, supervising approximately 1,500 scientists and staff. In 1993, he founded and served as President and CEO of Molecular Geriatrics Corporation. In April 1997, he joined the University of Texas-Houston as their first chairman of a newly-combined basic science department, Integrative Biology, Pharmacology and Physiology. There he also created a new Division of Clinical Pharmacology with his department and the Department of Medicine. In October 1998, Prof. Murad, along with his colleagues Robert F. Furchgott and Louis J. Ignarro, were awarded The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The award was given to them for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system specific to blood vessel dilation. After accepting the award, Dr. Murad began working in the dual role of Chairman of the Department of Integrative Biology, Pharmacology and Physiology and Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas-Houston. In 2011, Dr. Murad accepted an faculty appointment at The George Washington University, where he leads a lab program in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Prof. Murad has been recipient of many Awards including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1996 for his discovery.
He is author of two books: Nitric Oxide: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Therapeutic Implications (1995, with Louis J. Ignarro) and The Wellness Solution (2007, with Edward A Taub and David Oliphant).
As a Nobel Laureate, Dr. Murad has participated on panels with other Nobel Laureates to discuss methods to promote peace and education around the world.

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Toshikazu Yoshikawa

X close

Dr. Toshikazu Yoshikawa, 72, was educated at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. Graduated in 1973, Licensed Medical Doctor (M.D.) at 1973, and Dr. Medicine (Ph.D.) in 1983. After acting as President of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, he is now President of Louis Pasteur Center for Medical Research, President of Japan Anti-Aging Foundation, Emeritus Professor, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Emeritus President of the Society for Free Radical Research (SFRR) Japan, and Emeritus President of Japanese Society of Anti-Aging Medicine.
Specialized in medicine, he has worked in various fields such as gastroenterology, free radical science, preventive medicine, food nutrition, disease biomarkers, genomics, proteomics, and lipidomics.
Having started free radical and reactive oxygen species (ROS) research at a young, he has been an internationally respected authority of free radical research. Free radicals and ROS are high reactive molecules known to involve in over 150 diseases. Since free radicals and ROS are keys to preventing and treatment of diseases, he has studied the relationship between free radicals and those various diseases including cancer, intestinal and other inflammatory diseases, diabetes, dementia, male fertility, and so on. By accumulating countless studies that reveal the close relationship of free radicals and ROS to health and longevity, his total publications are over 1200, and primary research publications are over 500, cumulating above 20000 citations. In collaboration with many prominent researchers around the world, the numbers are still growing today. He has also written numerous books for both masses and professionals about free radicals, preventive medicine, antiaging, and so on. As an editor, he has a carrier as editor-in-chief in “Pathophysiology”, an official Journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology, and “Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition”, an official Journal of the Society for Free Radical Research Japan.
Dr. Yoshikawa’s contributions to the free radical study are not limited to publishing papers. He has founded many associations such as Society for Free Radical Research Japan, which is the Japanese branch of the worldwide Society for Free Radical Research International. He was first President of the SFRR International as Japanese, leading free radical research. His carrier on council members varies such as President of the Japanese Society of Lipid Peroxide and Free Radical Research, SFRR International, President of the Japanese Society of Lipid Peroxide and Free Radical Research, President of the Japanese Society of Functional Water, and President of Internationalization of Medical Services Association.
Today, as interest in the importance of free radicals is growing, his researches will receive more attention.

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Scott Waldman

X close

Scott A. Waldman, MD, PhD, FCP, FAHA, FNAI
Dr. Scott Waldman obtained his PhD degree from Thomas Jefferson University, and his MD degree from Stanford University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia and Stanford University in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology in the laboratory of Ferid Murad, MD, PhD, who won the 1998 Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is the Samuel MV Hamilton Professor of Medicine, Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program of the Kimmel Cancer Center, and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics of Thomas Jefferson University. He directs the MD-PhD Program and the NIH-sponsored Postdoctoral Training Program in Clinical Pharmacology at Jefferson. He is a past member of the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology, a past Regent of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP), a past-President of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Chair of the Scientific Program Committee and Council Member of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (FCP), the American Heart Association (FAHA), and the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI). Dr. Waldman’s research interests focus on clinical pharmacology and translational medicine in the context of gastrointestinal malignancies and obesity.

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Joao Ricardo Ribas

X close

Joao Ricardo Ribas Júnior, MD, 55, is born in the city of Ponta Grossa, in the Southern Part of Brazil, on Christmas, 1964.
At an early age, he developed a strong interest in people and, because of that, he was encouraged by the family to go to Medical School. And he enrolled at the Federal University of his home state, Parana, where he graduated.
Soon after graduation, he decided to take a sabbatical period from Medicine and went to Europe, where he met a French Nurse that had joined - and introduced him to Doctors without Borders. He then traveled to a Cambodian Refugee Camp in Thailand, where he had the first direct contact with the Non-Governmental Organization.
He then found a meaning for his desire of helping the needy. He went back to Brazil to get a specialty in Tropical Diseases, in order to join the international Nobel-Prize-Winner institution. He was first assigned to serve in Angola, Africa. At that time, there was a Civil War going on, and he faced the risks of the domestic conflict and that made him start thinking about what he could do to improve people´s quality of life.
Once again he went back to Brazil for a new objective: becoming a surgeon. He got his Trauma training in Rio de Janeiro, the only city in the world that is not at war where organized crime uses Heavy Caliber Military Rifles to control Drug Operations.
He fell in love with the Marvelous City. He decided to dedicate his professional life to helping the least privileged in his own country.
And he realized that as a surgeon he could only help a certain number of people, but in Public Office, he would exponentiate the positive effect on the population. And he went into public life to keep saving lives.
For more than ten years, he has served as City Councillor in the City of Rio de Janeiro and has also held Executive Offices as Secretary of State for Human Rights in the State of Rio de Janeiro and Assistant Secretary of Health in São João do Meriti, a major city in Greater Rio.
He has improved a great deal the life of millions of people with laws and programs focused on Public Health, Sustainability, Animal Protection, and LGBT issues.

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Shigeru Hirano

X close

Dr. Shigeru Hirano received his M.D. at Kyoto University in 1990 and began his residency at Kyoto University Hospital. Following his residency, he became a clinical staff at Tenri Hospital until 1994 and attended the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University once again to receive his Ph.D. with a focus on Otolaryngology-Head and neck surgery.
In 1998, he began his career as an assistant professor at Kyoto University while also contributing to research as a research fellow at the University of California and the University of Wisconsin. After his successive role as an assistant professor, in 2005, he received the title of Associate Professor at Kyoto University.
In 2015, due to his hard work as an associate professor, he became the chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.

www.flogen.org/

BIO of Davis Joseph

X close

Born in Montreal, Canada, Davis Joseph completed his college studies in the Heath Science Profile at Jean-de-Brébeuf College in Montreal with high distinctions and is now in the process of obtaining his BSc in Biochemistry with a 4.0 GPA.
He has been continuously in Honor’s List of the educational institutions he was part of and has been honored during the years with “Coup de cœur” Prize in architecture, Recognition Award for participation in Science +, enriched profile, School Merits Award for the year 2016-2017 and Merit Scholarship, from Jean-de-Brébeuf College.
He has accumulated during the years numerous Distinctions of Honor including three in sciences, three in mathematics, three in the French Language, three in English Language, one in General Culture, two in Social Universe, one in Community Service, one for volunteer service with the elderly at the Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal.
He has participated in various science events such as the 2014 Science Fair; 2015 Expo-Sciences Hydro Quebec, Montreal in design; 2016 Robotics competition; 2017 Science Expo in Cancer research and 2017 ETS #pontpop competition.
He has a rich professional and volunteer experience, most notably doing an Observer Internship with Dr. Mark Basik, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University and doctor of oncology at the Jewish General Hospital, being a Volunteer in the pathology and cytology laboratory in the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, a volunteer in the laboratory of the Institute of Pathology of Jewish General Hospital a volunteer in the Montreal Geriatric Institute as well as a volunteer in Distribution of Christmas baskets for Multicaf, for the Fundraising Campaign of Multicaf as well as doing numerous volunteer activities for Jean-de-Brébeuf college.
Currently, he is working as a COOP Researcher at FLOGEN Technologies in Montreal.
He speaks fluently English, French, and Spanish. He likes basketball, swimming, and tennis plays Jazz, piano, and Bassoon, and travels in several countries of the world.

www.flogen.org/