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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 25, 2005) - Southern Research Institute today announced that Maurizio Grimaldi, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the company's highly successful drug discovery team to lead efforts focused on discovering new drugs for neurological and central nervous system disorders.
"The world population is aging, and diagnostics continue to improve, resulting in an increasing number of patients being diagnosed with neurological disorders," says John A. Secrist, III, Ph.D., vice president of the Drug Discovery Division at Southern Research. "This is an area of scientific need that fits with our overall mission, and we are very happy to have Dr. Grimaldi leading these efforts at Southern Research."
Prior to joining Southern Research as leader of the newly-created Neuropharmacology Laboratory, Dr. Grimaldi conducted research at the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute for Child and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) at the National Institutes for Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD. From 2000 to 2004, he was an assistant professor of neurology in the Dept. of Neurology, Uniformed Services, University of Health Sciences in Bethesda. He also consulted for Amersham Health, now a General Electric (GE) company, and the National Institute for Deafness and Communicative Disorders (NIDCD).
He received his medical degree from the School of Medicine and Surgery at The University of Napoli, Italy, specializing in clinical pharmacology. He later earned a Ph.D. in neuropsychopharmacology and toxicology from the University. Dr. Grimaldi completed his post-doctoral training at the Department of Neuroscience and Human Communication, Unit of Pharmacology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Napoli.
Dr. Grimaldi has held fellowships from the Italian Red Cross, the Italian Association for Cancer Research, and the Italian Ministry of Scientific Research, and he was a visiting fellow in the Dept. of Human Metabolism and Clinical Biochemistry at The University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina.
He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the International Neurochemistry Society and a reviewer for the International Journal of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, the Journal of Neurochemistry Neuroscience letters, Glia, and the Journal of Neuroscience. Dr. Grimaldi has authored and co-authored 70 scientific publications, including seven book chapters. He has received two patents, one for a diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease and the other for a preventative agent in marijuana that may protect brain cells during a stroke. Two additional patents are pending.
About Southern Research Institute
Southern Research, an independent center for scientific research, provides contract research and testing services in preclinical drug discovery and development. Six of the FDA-approved anti-cancer drugs on the market were discovered at Southern Research, and four additional drug discoveries are currently in clinical trials. Southern Research has facilities in Birmingham, Ala., Frederick, Md., and Research Triangle Park, N.C. For more information, visit www.southernresearch.org.
Media Contacts: Rhonda Jung, Southern Research Institute, 205-581-2317, jung@southernresearch.org