Pr. Nicolas Bazan Chevreul medal

After obtaining his MD in Tucuman (Argentina), Nicolas Bazan was a postdoc at P&S, Columbia University, and Harvard Medical School. In his first lab at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (Toronto) his contributions to neuroscience and medicine began with the discovery that brain ischemia or seizures releases unesterified arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA), which became known as the “Bazan effect” (citation classic - “Neural Stimulation or Onset of Cerebral Ischemia Activates Phospholipase A2”, Current Contents, 30:10, 1991).

Then, he found that platelet activating factor (PAF) is released by injury or stimulation in the brain and eyes; uncovered PAF binding in synaptic and intracellular membranes (1990); defined PAF-mediated regulation of early gene expression (1989); and found a role for PAF in long-term potentiation and memory (1994-95). He then uncovered that DHA supply to the nervous system is liver regulated (1989). He discovered that in photoreceptor renewal, retinal pigment epithelium recycling retains DHA within photoreceptors by a “short loop” (RPE-to-photoreceptors) and a “long loop” (liver-to-retina) (1985). He found that Usher’s Syndrome patients have DHA shortage in the blood, implicating the long loop in retinal degenerations (1986). He then discovered enzyme-mediated formation of DHA derivatives in the retina and coined the term docosanoids (1984).

He and his colleagues discovered the synthesis and bioactivity of the first docosanoid, neuroprotectin D1 (2003-4), which arrests apoptosis in retinal pigment epithelial cells at the pre-mitochondrial level, and is neuroprotective in brain ischemia-reperfusion and in cellular models of Alzheimer’s disease. Then he found a decrease in NPD1 in the CA1 area of Alzheimer’s patients, and that NPD1 promotes down-regulation of pro-inflammatory genes and of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, and neuronal and glial cell survival from Aβ toxicity. As part of his translational research and as an inventor he hold more than 20 patents that includes a family of

new analgesics, analogs of paracetamol devoid of liver toxicity; novel PAF antagonists that protect the brain from inflammation and damage; and applications for neuroprotectin D1 in brain and retina injury, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration.

The recognitions he received include the Javits Neuroscience Award, NINDS, NIH; elected to Royal Academy of Medicine, Spain; elected fellow, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Dublin; and Proctor Medal, the highest honor of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He is the founding director of the LSU Neuroscience Center of Excellence, New Orleans. He is on the editorial board of several journals including Editor-in- Chief of the 25 year old Molecular Neurobiology. He is a member of the BDPE NIH Study Section (2010-2014) and is member of the Senate of the DZNE, Germany.

Most recently he has written the novel “Una Vida" : A Fable of Music and the Mind”, a compassionate, heartfelt story that takes readers on a tantalizing journey into the secret recesses of the brain of a hauntingly gifted jazz musician whose memory is slipping into the abyss of Alzheimer’s.

And last but not least, beyond his passion for innovation in medicine, Nicolas Bazan is a noted gastronome.

This led him particularly interested in the wines and vineyards.

Conférence Chevreul de Nicolas Bazan prononcée dans le cadre des Journées "Lipids and brain II" (Paris 2011)