Erminio "Mimo" Costa (March 9, 1924 – November 28, 2009) was an Italian-American
neuroscientist.
His research interests covered brain serotonergic activity in health and disease,
benzodiazepine
Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, ...
-
GABA interactions,
benzodiazepine action at
GABAA receptor
The GABAA receptor (GABAAR) is an ionotropic receptor and ligand-gated ion channel. Its endogenous ligand is γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Upon opening, the GABAA receptor on ...
s, neurophysiological role of neurosteroids, and GABAergic dysfunction and changes in the expression of
reelin and
GAD67 in
schizophrenia.
He published more than 1,000 articles.
The June 2011 issue of the journal ''
Neuropharmacology'' was dedicated to him.
Career
*July 1947 - M.D. 110/110 ''cum laude'',
University of Cagliari, Italy
*1950-1960 - Thudichum Psychiatric Research Laboratory, Galesburg Research Hospital,
Galesburg, Illinois
*1960-1965 - Deputy Chief, Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology at NHLI - NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
*1965-1968 - Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Columbia University, New York, NY
*1968-1985 - Chief of the Laboratory of Preclinical Pharmacology, NIMH,
St. Elizabeths Hospital
St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health. It opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane, the first federally oper ...
, Washington, DC
*1985-1994 - Director and Founder, Institute of Neuroscience, and Professor of Pharmacology,
Georgetown University, Washington, DC
*1994-1995 - Director, Center for Neuropharmacology,
Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York University, New York, NY
*1995 - Scientific Director, Psychiatric Institute, Professor of Biochemistry in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
*1982 - Member,
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
*1991 - Member of "
Accademia dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...
" founded by
Galileo Galilei in 1602, Rome
Books
* ''Advances in Biochemical Psychopharmacology'' (1969)
* ''Biochemistry and Pharmacology of the Basal Ganglia'' (1966)
* ''Biochemistry of Simple Neuronal Models'' (1970)
* ''Neurosteroids and Brain Function'' (1991)
* ''The Endorphins - Vol. 18'' (1985)
See also
*
Bernard Brodie, in whose laboratory Costa worked for a time.
References
External links
Erminio Costa, M.D.Obituary—Erminio Costa, M.D. (1924-2009), University of Illinois at Chicago
- obituary at Schizophrenia Research Forum Schizophrenia Research Forum is a web knowledge environment dedicated to news, information resources, and discussion about research on schizophrenia.
It hosts a number of resources such as What We Know About Schizophrenia, Animal Models and Drugs in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Erminio
1924 births
2009 deaths
Italian neuroscientists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
People from Cagliari
University of Cagliari alumni
American neuroscientists
Italian emigrants to the United States