Theoharis Theoharides

Theoharis C. Theoharides, BA, MS, MPhil, PhD, MD, FAAAAI

Dr. Theoharides is Professor of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine, as well as Director of Molecular Immunopharmacology and Drug Discovery at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. He was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he graduated from Anatolia College. He received all his degrees with Honors from Yale University, from which he was awarded the Dean’s Research Award and the Winternitz Price in Pathology. He trained in internal medicine at New England Medical Center, which awarded him the Oliver Smith Award “recognizing excellence, compassion and service.” He also received a Certificate in Global Leadership from the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a Fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He has published 365 papers and 3 textbooks with 20,506 citations (h-factor 70). He is in the top 1% of authors most cited in pharmacological and top 5% of immunological journals. He first showed that mast cells, known for causing allergic reactions and mastocytosis, can be triggered by cytokines and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), secreted under stress, to release IL-6, TNF and VEGF selectively, thus contributing to brain inflammation. He was also the first to show that stimulated mast cells secrete mitochondrial components outside the cells where they are mistaken by the body as “innate pathogens” and lead to inflammation that may explain auto-immune diseases. As a result, he has proposed that mast cells are also involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, autism, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. Ηe has developed a series of dietary supplements and a skin lotion containing the flavonoid luteolin for which he has been awarded 17 patents and 12 Trade Marks. His formulation, Neuroprotek, was recently shown in two pilot clinical trials to significantly improve sociability in over 60% of children with autism in 6 months. In order to bring these discoveries to the patients, he developed two nonprofit organizations (www.autismfreebrain.org and www.brain-gate.org) .He has been serving on the Massachusetts Drug Formulary Commission continuously since 1986. He has also served on the Supreme Health Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Institute or Pharmaceutical Research and Technology of the Hellenic Republic. He is a member of 15 academies and scientific societies. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, Immunology, and the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, and was nominated to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society and the Rare Diseases Hall of Fame. He has received the Tufts Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence, the Tufts Distinguished Faculty Recognition Award, Tufts Medical School Faculty Excellence Award twice and the Certificate for Excellence in Teaching ten times, Boston Mayor’s Community Award and the Dr. George Papanicolau Award. He has also received an Honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from Athens University and an Honorary Doctor of Sciences degree from Hellenic-American University. He is “Archon” of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.