Harry Demopoulos
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Harry B. Demopoulos, MD, is an important pioneer in the medical aspects of Free radicals, especially in the areas of ischaemic injury, the toxicity of anticancer drugs, and in spinal cord injury. He has also been a film actor, and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees, Doris Duke Foundation
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[edit] Free Radical Research
Ischaemic injury (injury to cells due to oxygen deprivation) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans. E.g., most deaths in stroke and heart attack are secondary to ischaemic injury, a consequence of the ischemic cascade. Thus, much research has been done into the causes and treatment of ischaemic injury. One important thread involves the essential role of free radicals {reactive oxygen species and the like) as modulators of ischaemic injury. This has resulted in important therapeutic advances, such as the radical-scavenging neuroprotective agent NXY-059.NXY-059 is currently under development for the treatment of stroke.
Harry B. Demopoulos and his coworkers played a key role this research. E.g., the opening sentence of J.Cell.Mol.Med. Vol 5, No 2, 2001 pp. 163-170 Oxidative damage following cerebral ischemia depends on reperfusion D. Al. Nita, et al states
"The concept of generation of free radicals during ischemia was first presented by Demopoulos, Flamm and co-workers..."
[edit] Some important papers
- Flamm ES, Demopoulos HB, Seligman ML, Poser RG, Ransohoff J., Free radicals in cerebral ischemia, Stroke. 1978 Sep-Oct;9(5):445-7. abstract and full text
- Generally-acknowledged as the first experimental demonstration of a role for reactive oxygen species in stroke. Google Scholar lists 100 citing articles. Pubmed lists 89 associated articles
- Demopoulos, H. B,, Flamm, E. S., Pietronegro, D. D., and Seligman, M. L., The free radical pathology and the microcirculation in the major central nervous system disorders, Acta Physiol. Scand. Suppl., 492, 91, 1980.
- This paper first suggests that free radical pathogenesis in stroke may be at least partially-mediated thru damage to the microcirculation. The neuroprotective antistroke agents NXY-059, Tirilazad, Superoxide dismutase/Catalase, and uric acid all likely work at this level, rather than interneuronally.
- Demopoulos, H., Flamm, E., Seligman, M. L., Power, R., Pietronegro, D., and Ransohoff, J., Molecular pathology of lipids in CNS membranes, in Oxygen and Physiological Function, Volsis, F. F., Ed., Professional Information Library, Dallas, Tex., 1977, 491.
- Demopoulos, H. B., Flamm, E., Seligman, M,, and Pietronigro, D. D., Oxygen free radicals in central nervous system ischaemia and trauma,in Pathology of Oxygen, Autor, A. P., Ed., Academic Press, New York, 1982, 127.
- "Large doses of methohexital protect the microcirculation in regional cerebral ischaemia models". This is the first well-defined example of an antistroke neuroprotective agent working outside the blood-brain barrier. NXY-059, Superoxide dismutase, catalase, uric acid, and Tirilazad are others.
- John McGinness, Proctor, P.H., Demopoulos, H.B., Hokansen, J.A. and Kirkpatrick, D. S. Amelioration of cis-platinum nephrotoxicity by orgotein (superoxide dismutase). Physiol. Chem. and Phys. 10: 267-277, 1978.
- John McGinness, Proctor, P.H., Demopoulos, H.B., Hokansen, J.A. and Van,N.T. In vivo evidence for superoxide and peroxide production by adriamycin and cis-platinum. In: Pathology of Oxygen. A. Autor, (Ed.). Academic Press, New York, 1982, pp. 191-202.
[edit] Filmography
The Dead Pool (1988), City Heat (1984), Cobra (1986), Sudden Impact (1983) (as Dr Barton).
Has Worked With: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, Liam Neeson, Jim Carrey, Sondra Locke, Anthony Charnota, George Orrison, Irene Cara, George Fisher
Internet Movie Database Entry on Harry Demopoulos
[edit] Doris Duke Estate
Doris Duke died in 1993 at the age of 80, following a series of debilitating strokes. She left virtually all of her fortune-- estimated at US$1.3 billion, even though she had given away a considerable amount of money throughout her life-- to a charitable foundation, over which she put her Irish-born butler, Bernard Lafferty (who was barely literate), in charge. A lawsuit [1] initiated by Duke's physician Harry Demopoulos resulted in Lafferty's being discharged. He soon died. Dr Demopoulos is now on the board of trustees of the Doris Duke Foundation.
The butler did it: "In court papers, Demopoulos blasted Lafferty as "an illiterate, unstable and even dangerous person" who had no business running a vast charitable foundation. But the real bombshell came when the litigants produced an affidavit from Tammy Payette, 28, a nurse who had attended to Duke in her final weeks. Payette maintained that Kivowitz (one of Duke's doctors) and Lafferty had conspired to murder Duke through the use of "massive sedation", including morphine and Demerol." [2]
