Handbook of Neurotoxicity: Edition 2

Richard M. Kostrzewa, Ph.D., Dr.h.c., obtained a Ph.D. (1971) in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania, under the guidance of his Ph.D. advisor and mentor, Dr. David M. Jacobowitz, who became the inaugural Chief of Histopharmacology at the National Institutes of Mental Health. Dr. Kostrzewa, following career stints as Research Pharmacologist at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana (1971–1975), adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Tulane Medical School (1974–1976) and Department of Psychology at the University of New Orleans (1974–1977), and Associate Professor at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans (1975–1978) joined the faculty of Pharmacology at the newly established Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee (Assoc. Prof./Professor), and has been a faculty member there for 45 years. Dr. Kostrzewa actively collaborated in research for 20 years with Prof. Ryszard Brus of the Silesian Medical University in Katowice, Poland, where he was Visiting Professor (1997–2003) and from which he received the Doctorate Honoris Causa (2005). In 2001, Dr. Kostrzewa was made an Honorary Member of the Polish Pharmacological Society. His research focus has remained on selective neurotoxins, with applications in the areas of nerve regeneration and sprouting, neurodegenerative disorders, dopamine receptor supersensitivity, and modeling of Parkinson’s disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, tardive dyskinesia, schizophrenia, and other neurologic disorders. He has authored and edited more than 10 books and more than 200 scientific papers, including the article “Pharmacological Actions of 6-Hydroxydopamine,” which in 1994 was designated in Current Contents as a “Citation Classic,” being one of the 400 most-cited papers at that time. Dr. Kostrzewa was co-founder with Prof. Dr. Juan Segura-Aguilar (University of Chile) of the Neurotoxicity Society, serving as its inaugural President, as the Society’s Treasurer for 10 years, and as its Secretary. Founder of the journal Neurotoxicity Research, he was its inaugural Editor-in-Chief, and he has served in that capacity for 24 years.