Moussa B. H. Youdim

Moussa B. H. Youdim
מוסא ב.ה. יודעים
Moussa B.H. Youdim
Born (1940-02-28) February 28, 1940
Tehran, Iran
Known forDevelopment of anti-Parkinson drugs (selegiline and rasagiline)
Awards
  • EMET Prize for Brain Sciences (2010)
  • Israel Prize in Life Sciences (2022)
  • The Maimonides Award (2023)
  • The Tel Aviv University Aufzien Center and Israel Parkinson Association Parkinson Prize (2024)
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience, Neuropharmacology, Drug development,

Multi targeted drugs possessing neuroprotective and neurorestorative activities. Alzheimer's disease, Molecular biology, Development of monoamine oxidase B inhibitors as anti Parkinson drugs, Iron dysregulation in brain function,

Neurodegenerative diseases
Institutions
  • Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
  • Youdim Pharmaceuticals

Moussa B. H. Youdim (Hebrew: מוסא ב.ה. יודעים, Persian: موسى ب. ح. یودعیم; born, February 28, 1940) is an Israeli neuroscientist specializing in neurochemistry and neuropharmacology. He is the discoverer of both monoamine oxidase (MAO) B inhibitors l-deprenyl (Selegiline) and rasagiline (Azilect) used as anti-Parkinson drugs which possess neuroprotective activities.[1] He is currently professor emeritus at Technion - Faculty of Medicine and President of Youdim Pharmaceuticals. He was awarded the EMET Prize for Brain Sciences in 2010 and the Israel Prize in Life Sciences in 2022.

Early life

Youdim was born on February 28, 1940, in Tehran, Iran, the son of Farangiss Lahijani and Eliahoo Youdim, a businessman. He attended Jewish school in Teheran and in 1952 he left Iran to study in a Jewish school in Brighton, England.[2]

University education

He earned a B.Sc degree in biochemistry in 1972 from McGill University in Montreal. In 1964 he received his masters degree in the laboratory of Professor T. L. Sourkes at McGill biochemistry department. In his master's thesis he studied the effect of heat, inhibitors and riboflavin deficiency on mitochondrial monoamine oxidase in liver and brain and identified two forms of monoamine oxidases.[3] For his doctoral research in the same lab the topic was the purification and characterization of mitochondrial monoamine oxidase in the liver and brain, being one of the first to do so receiving his PhD in 1966.[4]

His postdoctoral research 1966-1971 was with Prof. Merton Sandler at London University Post Graduate School at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital London and continued his research on brain monoamine oxidases. He, Merton Sandler and Edda Hannington of the Wellcome Trust established the defect in metabolism of dietary food stuffs such as cheese and chocolate in initiating migraine headache in susceptible subjects. He spent a year in K.F. Tipton’s laboratory, in the department of biochemistry, University of Cambridge.[1] In 1972 he received a Wellcome Trust Travelling Fellowship to be at College de France in Paris in Jaques Glowinski's department.

Academic career

From 1973 to 1977 he was a research associate in MRC Unit and department of clinical pharmacology at the faculty of medicine, University of Oxford.[1] At Oxford he pioneered research on the effect of nutritional iron deficiency on cognition and learning in rats and how it affects the brain dopmaine neurotransmission system, confirming learning disabilities observed in children with nutritional iron deficiency. In 1974 he also pioneered the first use of monoamine oxidase B inhibitor l-deprenyl (later named selegiline),a failed antidepressant developed by Hungarian drug company,Chinoin as anti-Parkinson drug with Prof. Peter Reiderer and Walter Birkmeyer. [5]

In 1977 he moved to Israel to establish the Pharmacology Department at the fledgling faculty of medicine of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, which was three years old at the time. He was chairman of the department from 1977 until 1994.[6]

He identified a drug, AGN1135, from Aspro Nicholas Compnay as second potent selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor. With John Finberg and Teva Phamaceutical compnay they developed a treatment for Parkinson's disease, with AGN1135 the second monoamine oxiadse B inhibtor rasagiline Azilect, as an initial mono therapy or as add-on therapy to levodopa later in the disease. Results of the ADAGIO clinical study suggest that the drug may have a positive impact on slowing clinical progression of the disease.[2][7]

Youdim's research priorities are in neurosciences, pharmacology, neurotransmitter systems, and neurological diseases, specifically Parkinson’s disease.[1] His primary research is on the monoamine oxidase enzyme and its role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and the development of selective inhibitors of this enzyme. Medications developed to inhibit monoamine oxidase B have since become an established method of treating Parkinson’s disease. He also conducts research on other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, focusing on the disruption in cholinergic neurotransmission associated with this disease.


He has developed novel multifunctional iron chelators with monoamine oxidase and cholinesterase inhibitory activities for treatment of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig disease).[2] These drugs possess neuroprotective and neurorestorative activeties in animal models of Parkinson's ddisease.

He has been a distinguished professor in universities and institutes around the world[1][8] including

  • Materica Medica of Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China (2010–present)
  • Shanghai Rugin University Medical School, Shanghai, China (2010–present)
  • Yonsei World Class University Programme, Seoul, South Korea (2008 - 2013)
  • Hong Kong Polytechnic University, (2006 - 2008),
  • Hong Kong University Distinguished Visiting Professor (2007-2020)
  • Fogarty International Scholar at the Center for Advanced Study in Human Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA (1991 - 1999)

From 1997 - 2012 he was a director of the National Parkinson Foundation's Center of Excellence, USA.[1] and the Eve Topf Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases at Technion Medical School.[9]

He holds over 100 patents in neuropsychiatric drug development and cardiovascular drugs.[2]

Publications

He has published over 900 scientific articles, which have been cited close to 80,000 times,[10][11] and his H-Index is 146. He has edited over 45 books.

He has been editorial board member of 43 international scientific journals,[6] 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.[6]

Key publications

  • Youdim, Moussa B H; Bakhle, Y S (2006). "Monoamine oxidase: isoforms and inhibitors in Parkinson's disease and depressive illness". British Journal of Pharmacology. 147 (S1): S287 – S296. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706464. ISSN 0007-1188. PMC 1760741. PMID 16402116.
  • Zecca, Luigi; Youdim, Moussa B. H.; Riederer, Peter; Connor, James R.; Crichton, Robert R. (November 2004). "Iron, brain ageing and neurodegenerative disorders". Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 5 (11): 863–873. doi:10.1038/nrn1537. ISSN 1471-003X. PMID 15496864. S2CID 205500060.
  • Youdim, Moussa B. H.; Edmondson, Dale; Tipton, Keith F. (April 2006). "The therapeutic potential of monoamine oxidase inhibitors". Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 7 (4): 295–309. doi:10.1038/nrn1883. ISSN 1471-003X. PMID 16552415. S2CID 1207867.
  • Weinreb, Orly; Amit, Tamar; Mandel, Silvia; Kupershmidt, Lana; Youdim, Moussa B.H. (2010-09-15). "Neuroprotective Multifunctional Iron Chelators: From Redox-Sensitive Process to Novel Therapeutic Opportunities". Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. 13 (6): 919–949. doi:10.1089/ars.2009.2929. ISSN 1523-0864. PMID 20095867.

Prizes and honors

Youdim has received more than 50 national and international prizes, awards, honors, and several honorary doctorates. In 1997 he was granted an honorary doctorate from Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; in 1998 from University of Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy.

  • 2025 he was awarded The Sir Henry J Wellcome Gold Medal the highest prize of British Pharmacology Society for achievement in pharmacology and therapeutics.
  • 2025 he was elected a permanent member of Academia Europaea (European Academy)[12] 
  • 2024 he was awarded the Israel Parkinson’s Disease Society Award and the Tel Aviv University Aufzien Center’s Annual Prize for Lifetime Contribution for Parkinson's Disease in recognition of his lifelong dedication and work in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.[13]
  • 2023 he was awarded the Maimonides Award, Rambam Hospital[12]
  • 2022 he received the Israel Prize In Life Sciences[9]
  • 2013 he was elected an honorary member of Israel Society for Neuroscience[14]
  • 2012 he was granted CINP (International College of Neuropsychopharmacology) Pioneering Neuropsychopharmacology Prize[15]
  • 2010 he was granted the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology LifeTime Achievement Award [16] and elected to the Leopoldina Germany Academy of Sciences.[2][17]
  • 2010 he received the EMET prize in Brain Science "for his achievements in the field of neurological studies and his studies of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, leading to the development of drugs for the treatment of these severe diseases.”[18][7][19]
  • In 2022 he received the Israel Prize in recognition of his "pioneering, groundbreaking scientific achievements in the field of neuropharmacology".[20][21]
  • In 1986 he received the Michael Landau Research Prize.
  • In 1980 he received the National Institute of Psychobiology in Israel Achievement Prize.
  • In 1974 he received the Anna-Monika International Prize and British Migraine Association Special Gold Medal.

In honor of his 80th birthday a special issue of Neurochemical Research dedicated to him was published.[22]

Youdim family lecture and prize

He established the Annual Eliahoo Youdim Lecture in depression at National Institue of Psychobiology in Israel in honor of his father who suffered from depression throughout his life.

In 2013 he established The Youdim Family Prize at Rambam Hospitalin Haifa, granted annually to researchers for medical or biomedical cancer research which demonstrates excellence, novelty, and/or scientific breakthroughs. As of 2021 two annual grants are awarded to cancer research PhD students nearing completion of their degrees at an Israeli academic institution.[23][24][25][26]

Industry involvement

Youdim was a consultant to Roche, TEVA Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Ciba Geigy, and Continental Pharmaceuticals, Brussels.

He cofounded Youdim Pharmaceuticals in 2016 and is president and chief scientific officer.

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.[27][28] Experts have recently questioned whether rasagiline actually has significant disease modifying properties.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Moussa B. H. Youdim" (PDF). Leopoldina Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Making armor for the brain (The story of Moussa Youdim) | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2015". ver2015.presidentsreport.technion.ac.il. Archived from the original on 2025-01-03. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  3. ^ Youdim, Moussa B. H. "The effect of heat, inhibitors and riboflavin deficiency on monoamine oxidase". escholarship.mcgill.ca. T. (Supervisor) Sourkes. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  4. ^ Youdim, Moussa B. H.; Sourkes, T. "Properties of purified, soluble monoamine oxidase". Can J Biochem. 44 (10): 1397–400.
  5. ^ Riederer, P; Youdim, Moussa BH. "Monoamine oxidase activity and monoamine metabolism in brains of parkinsonian patients treated with l-deprenyl". J Neurochem. 46 (5): 1359–65.
  6. ^ a b c "Rambam Health Care Campus-Home Page-". www.rambam.org.il. 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  7. ^ a b "Teva Congratulates Professor Moussa Youdim, Winner of the 2010 EMET Prize for Brain Science" (PDF). Teva.
  8. ^ "Academy of Europe: Youdim Moussa". www.ae-info.org. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  9. ^ a b "In Parkinson's Awareness Month, Parkinson's pioneer wins Israel Prize | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  10. ^ "Moussa Youdim". scholar.google.com.
  11. ^ "Moussa YOUDIM | B.Sc, MSc, Ph.D | Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa | technion | Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel | Research profile". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 2025-08-13. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  12. ^ a b "Academy of Europe: Youdim Moussa". www.ae-info.org. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  13. ^ "Annual Prize for Lifetime Contribution for Parkinson's Disease".
  14. ^ "All members". www.isfn.org.il. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  15. ^ "Pioneer Award". cinp.org. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  16. ^ "Lifetime Achievement Award". ECNP. Archived from the original on 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  17. ^ "List of Members | Expert Search- Moussa B.H. Youdim". Leopoldina National Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  18. ^ "פרס א.מ.ת. | פרס האמנות, המדע והתרבות". emetprize.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  19. ^ "Teva Congratulates Professor Moussa Youdim, Winner of the 2010 EMET Prize for Brain Science | Fierce Pharma". www.fiercepharma.com. 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  20. ^ "In Parkinson's Awareness Month, Parkinson's pioneer wins Israel Prize | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  21. ^ "Technion's Moussa Youdim to receive Israel Prize in Life Sciences – www.israelhayom.com". 2022-03-24. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  22. ^ "Special Issue Dedicated to Dr. Moussa Youdim". Neurochemical Research. 32 (10): 1623–1624. 2007-10-01. doi:10.1007/s11064-007-9411-0. ISSN 1573-6903.
  23. ^ "Rambam Health Care Campus-News and Events-". www.rambam.org.il. 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  24. ^ "Rambam Health Care Campus-Youdim Family Prize-". www.rambam.org.il. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  25. ^ "Rambam Health Care Campus-General Information-". www.rambam.org.il. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  26. ^ "RAMBAM: Youdim Family Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research | Technion Research & Development Foundation". www.trdf.co.il. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ 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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