Rafael Radi, MD, PhD (Universidad de la República, Uruguay, 1988
and 1991), was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1963. Postdoctoral fellow
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA (UAB) from 1989 to 1992
and then was appointed to the tenured faculty (1992 to present) of the
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República. Radi currently holds
the position of Full Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Biochemistry (2006) and Director of the Center for Biomedical Research
(CEINBIO) at Universidad de la República.
Dr. Radi´s
research activities focus on the production, chemical biology, cell
signaling actions and pathological effects of oxidants and free
radicals (transient reactive species produced biologically and which
participate in disease processes). He has made seminal observations
regarding the biochemical mechanisms of the pathogenic actions of
nitric oxide through its interaction with superoxide radicals and the
formation of peroxynitrite. These events in turn have relevance to
disease processes including atherogenesis, hypertension,
neurodegeneration and inflammation. Dr. Radi's lab has pioneered the
concept that oxygen radicals serve to “shift” the physiological
signaling actions of nitric oxide towards pathophysiology. In response
to this new insight, he has participated in the development, testing
and chemical characterization of synthetic antioxidant molecules that
serve as peroxynitrite decomposition catalysts to attenuate
peroxynitrite-dependent toxicity (e.g. manganese porphyrins;
mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants). In addition, his lab has shown
that peroxynitrite and L-arginine metabolism play central roles during
the cellular immune response to pathogens and in particular to the
causative agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. Novel
anti-parasitic drug developments from these studies are now in
progress. Overall, Dr. Radi´s research activities are directed toward
defining the biochemistry of cell and tissue redox reactions and their
role in disease states.
Honors and awards Dr. Radi has
received include election as Foreign Member of the US National Academy
of Sciences (NAS, 2015), Howard Hughes Medical Institute International
Research Scholar (2000-2011), First Level Researcher in Biology and
Chemistry of the National Research System of Uruguay (since 1999) and
Honorary Professor of the Universities of Buenos Aires (Argentina),
Alabama
at Birmingham (USA) and Pittsburgh (USA). He was a
fellow of the International Union of Biochemistry (1991), a Senior
Fulbright Foreign Scholar (1998), Guggenheim Fellow (2003-2004). He has
been also elected to The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World
(TWAS) (2004), the Argentinean National Academy of Sciences (2004) and
the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (2006). He is a founding member and
current Secretary of the Uruguayan Academy of Sciences (2010). Radi was
twice awarded the national prizes in research of Biology (1996) and
Basic Sciences (1999), the Discovery Award of the Society for Free
Radical Biology and Medicine (2011) and Leloir Award to international
cooperation (2013). He was President of the Society for Free Radical
Biology and Medicine and is the President of the Society for Free
Radical Research International. He has published over 200 original
research articles and 40 review articles. He has been cited over 19,000
times and has an H index of 70.
Radi has lectured
extensively in both at regional and international Universities and
International Research Conferences and Courses since 1991. He has
participated in various national and international committees for
evaluation of research thesis, fellowships and research projects. He is
a Member of the External Advisory Board of the Center for Free Radical
Biology of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA and Pasteur
Institute Montevideo and a consultant of the University of Pittsburgh.
He has served on the Organizing Committees of numerous International
Meetings and Courses. He was the Chair of the Gordon Research
Conference on Oxygen Radicals in Ventura, CA, 2006, Free Radicals in
Montevideo 2007 and the Annual Meeting of the Society for Free Radical
Biology and Medicine 2007. Radi is currently an Associate Editor of
Free Radical Biology and Medicine and Free Radical Research and he has
been or is member of the Editorial Boards of Archives of Biochemistry
and Biophysics, Chemical Research in Toxicology, Brazilian Journal of
Medical and Biological Research and IUBMB Life.
He has
obtained national and international grants including from the National
Institutes of Health (present), National Research Council and from
Universidad de la República, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
(2000-2011), Fogarty-National Institutes of Health (1994 to 2003) and
NIH Consortium Agreements with US Universities (2003-2012),
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
(1998-2001; 2007-2010), Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation
(1990-2000) and The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World
(1993).
In addition to his role as teacher in Facultad de
Medicina, Universidad de la República, Radi has trained a cohort of
scientists in Uruguay, where he has directed numerous PhD theses in the
areas of biochemistry, medicine and chemistry. In addition, Dr. Radi
has contributed to the development of research infrastructure and is
responsible of the installation and use of national core facilities
such as those in Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Stopped-Flow
Spectrometry for Rapid Kinetic studies and the creation the new
laboratories of the Center for Free Radical and Biomedical Research. He
has also participated in the definition of national research policies
as a member of the National Research Council of Uruguay and critically
contributed to establishment of the national programs for PhD and MD,
PhD studies at Universidad de la República.