Gian Luigi Gessa is a professor of

Neuropsychopharmacology Neuropsychopharmacology, an interdisciplinary science related to psychopharmacology (study of effects of drugs on the mind) and fundamental neuroscience, is the study of the neural mechanisms that drugs act upon to influence behavior. It entails ...

at the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari ( it, Università degli Studi di Cagliari) is a university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 alon ...

, where he has led for a long time the Department of Neurosciences. He is the leader of the Italian group that studies drug addiction. He also directed the research groups of the

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

. He worked as a researcher at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

by Bethesda (Maryland) led by Professor Bernard Brodie and

Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institu ...

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

(

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

), before returning to Italy and becoming one of the most authoritative experts in neuropharmacological research. Under his leadership, the Department of Neuroscience of

was ranked twenty-third place in the world among research institutes in the field of Pharmacology (Xenobiotics, Current Contents, Life Sciences, 1993). The Neuropharmacology department of Cagliari was also recognized by the Ministry of University and Scientific Research as a "Center of Excellence" for research on the Neurobiology of Addiction. Professor Gessa is also head of the

CICAP CICAP (Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sulle Pseudoscienze; in English Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences) is an Italian, non-profit, skeptic educational organization, founded in 1989. CIC ...

Sardinia and a member of the Scientific Committee of "

Journal of Psychiatry A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

" located at University of Rome "La Sapienza". He also served as president of the Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF). He is currently professor emeritus of pharmacology at the University of Cagliari and an associate member of the Institute of Neurosciences of the National Research Council. He received the

Camillo Golgi Camillo Golgi (; 7 July 184321 January 1926) was an Italian biologist and pathologist known for his works on the central nervous system. He studied medicine at the University of Pavia (where he later spent most of his professional career) betwee ...

Award from

Accademia Nazionale 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 ...

for his research. In 2004, he decided to join politics, by standing with the list of

Renato Soru Renato Soru (born 6 August 1957) is an Italian politician and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the internet service company Tiscali, based in Cagliari. ''Forbes'' listed Soru as one of the world's richest people, with a net worth of over $4 bi ...

Project Sardinia as a regional councilor, being elected with 4613 preferences. From June 2, 2006 he is

Grand Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...

Order of Merit of the Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

Works

Author

*''Endorphines''(1987),Pythagora Press. *''Psychopharmachology''(1990),Collana manuali di medicina,Masson. *''Dopamine and Mental Depression'' (1990),Paperback. *''Dysthymia: Diagnosis and Treatment'' (1998),Mediserve. *''Interview on neuroscience'' (2003),CUEC. *''Cocaine'' (2008),Rubbettino.

Publisher

*''Depression and Mania: From Neurobiology to Treatment (Advances in Biochemical Psychopharmacology)''(1995),

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

:Raven Press

Articles and studies

*'' Marked inhibition of mesolimbic dopamine release: a common feature of ethanol, morphine, cocaine and amphetamine abstinence in rats.''.(1992),

European Journal of Pharmacology The ''European Journal of Pharmacology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of pharmacology. It publishes full-length papers on the mechanisms of action of chemical substances affecting biological systems, and short reviews debati ...

*''Mesolimbic dopaminergic decline after cannabinoid withdrawal''.(1998) National Academy of Sciences,

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

*''Self-administration of the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 in drug-naive mice.'' (1998)

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

*''Investigation on the relationship between cannabinoid CB1 and opioid receptors in gastrointestinal motility in mice'' (2004)

British Journal of Pharmacology The ''British Journal of Pharmacology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of experimental pharmacology. It is published for the British Pharmacological Society by Wiley-Blackwell. It was established in 1946 as th ...

*'' Prenatal exposure to a cannabinoid receptor agonist does not affect sensorimotor gating in rats''.(2006),

*'' Efficacy of rimonabant and other cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists in reducing food intake and body weight: preclinical and clinical data.(2006),

CNS Drug Review CNS may refer to: Science and medicine * Central nervous system * Clinical nurse specialist * Coagulase-negative staphylococcus * Connectedness to nature scale * Conserved non-coding sequence of DNA * Crigler–Najjar syndrome * Crystallography ...

External links

On the appointment as Grand Officer
- The biochemistry of addiction - Article by Professor Gessa on Tempo Medico
A scientific opinion on the law Fini-GiovanardiInterview with Professor Gessa
on the issue of dangerousness of recreational drugs, particularly canapa {{DEFAULTSORT:Gessa, Gian Luigi Living people 1932 births Italian neuroscientists Pharmaceutical scientists Academic staff of the University of Cagliari National Research Council (Italy) people