Research Professor Henry Forman
The Society for Redox Biology and Medicine Senior Awards Committee has announced that the recipient of their 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award is Henry Jay Forman, research professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
Forman was recognized for his key contributions in the area of biology and medicine of superoxide that include:
- his earliest work on the biological actions of superoxide, as an intermediate in the enzymatic oxidation of tryptophan;
- studies related to the kinetic and biochemical characterization of Sod1, including the demonstration that zinc is a key structural element of this enzyme;
- co-discovering mitochondrial superoxide production;
- demonstration that NADPH rather than NADH is the substrate for superoxide generation in lung macrophages as a result of the oxidative burst.
Furthermore, Forman’s laboratory first demonstrated that oxidants can induce glutathione biosynthesis, revealing one of the major adaptive responses to oxidative stress. His group was also responsible for elucidating the redox regulation of transcription factors, such as NFkB, AP-1 and Nrf2.
Indeed, Forman is one of the pioneers in the redox signaling field, having published two seminal books. He is also a superb educator and public speaker, participating as plenary lecturer at numerous scientific meetings. Dr. Forman served as SFRBM President and as an Associate Editor for Free Radical Biology and Medicine (FRBM).
Forman will give a featured lecture at SFRBMs 23rd Annual Meeting, a joint meeting with the Society for Free Radical Research International, in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, November 16 at 6:40 pm titled, “Redox Biology – Questions for the Future from the Perspective of an Aging Free Radical”. He will also be presented with a medal, cash award, and offered an invitation to publish a review article in FRBM.
Courtesy of the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine.
