Education:
1991 M.D. (General Medicine), Semmelweis University Medical School, Budapest, Hungary 
1994 Ph.D. (Physiology) Semmelweis University Medical School and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Budapest, Hungary
1995 Ph.D. (Pharmacology) University of London, United Kingdom
1999, D. Sci., Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary 

Research Interests:
My graduate and postgraduate education gave me a broad and deep background in clinical medicine, physiology and pharmacology. My subsequent 20 years in Academia and Industry gave me a broad and deep set of skills and knowledge ranging from basic research and therapeutic target identification to preclinical and clinical drug development. On the academic track, as postdoctoral fellow at the William Harvey Research Institute, my work, under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Sir John Vane, focused on basic research on the role of NO and oxidative pathways in the pathogenesis of critical illness. As Research Director of the Division of Critical Care at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, and later as Professor at UMDNJ/Newark (now part of Rutgers), I expanded my scope to study molecular pathways of oxidative and nitrosative stress, and their applications to a diverse set of pathophysiological conditions including circulatory shock, diabetes, acute lung injury, cardiac diseases, aging, neuroinjury, and various acute and chronic inflammation. For the last 10 years, at the University of Texas Medical Branch, my laboratory integrates contemporary methods of cell biology, pharmacology, and molecular biology with cell-based high-throughput screening approaches and with in vivo models of disease. As PI or co-Investigator on multiple grants funded by the NIH and other agencies, I have discovered multiple novel pathophysiological pathways and processes, some of which became targets for subsequent drug development. Over the last decade, I became an internationally recognized authority in the field of hydrogen sulfide biology and I am currently involved in a variety of studies on the role of hydrogen sulfide in the regulation of mitochondrial dysfunction in various pathophysiological conditions including circulatory shock, vascular dysfunction and cancer. In parallel with my academic work, on the industry track, as Chief Scientific Officer of several successive biotech companies, I led multiple project teams focused on target identification, creation and pharmacological characterization of first-in-class drug development candidates, and their progression through preclinical development into proof-of-concept clinical trials. This work involved diverse targets, including key checkpoints in intracellular signaling and cell death pathways (e.g. PARP1, SHIP1), free radical/oxidant processes, cell membrane receptors (e.g. adenosine receptors) and gaseous transmitters (nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide). The therapeutic applications of these pathways include inflammation, vascular disease, cancer, lung diseases, ophthalmologic indications, and various forms of critical illness. From an administrative standpoint, I have successfully administered R&D groups of various size, including complex, multidisciplinary research projects, often involving multiple geographical locations. I have published extensively; have received numerous awards (including the Novartis Award of the British Pharmacological Society and the Pharmacia Award of ASPET); have received significant grant funding, including continuous funding from the NIH for the last 20 years. My publications are highly cited in the literature (over 50,000 citations). With an Hirsch-Index of 115, I am listed as one of the top 10 most highly cited scientists in the field of Pharmacology. 

Selected Publications: 

1. Szabo C. Gasotransmitters in cancer: from pathophysiology to experimental therapy. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 5:185-203, 2016 
2. Brunyanszki A, Erdelyi K, Szczesny B, Olah G, Salomao R, Herndon DN, Szabo C. Upregulation and mitochondrial sequestration of hemoglobins occurs in circulating leukocytes during critical illness, conferring a cytoprotective phenotype. Mol Med. 2015 Aug 17, in press, 2015.  
3. Coletta C, Módis K, Szczesny B, Brunyánszki A, Oláh G, Rios EC, Yanagi K, Ahmad A, Papapetropoulos A, Szabo C. Regulation of vascular tone, angiogenesis and cellular bioenergetics by the 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase/H2S pathway: functional impairment by hyperglycemia and restoration by DL-α-lipoic acid. Mol Med.  21:1-14, 2015. 
4. Hellmich MR, Coletta C, Chao C, Szabo C. The therapeutic potential of cystathionine β-synthetase/hydrogen sulfide inhibition in cancer. Antioxid Redox Signal.  22:424-48, 2015. 
5. Szczesny B, Módis K, Yanagi K, Coletta C, Le Trionnaire S, Perry A, Wood ME, Whiteman M, Szabo C. AP39, a novel mitochondria-targeted hydrogen sulfide donor, stimulates cellular bioenergetics, exerts cytoprotective effects and protects against the loss of mitochondrial DNA integrity in oxidatively stressed endothelial cells in vitro. Nitric Oxide.  41:120-30, 2014. 
6. Szabo C, Ransy C, Módis K, Andriamihaja M, Murghes B, Coletta C, Olah G, Yanagi K, Bouillaud F. Regulation of mitochondrial bioenergetic function by hydrogen sulfide. Biochemical and physiological mechanisms. Br J Pharmacol. 171:2099-122, 2014. 
7. Módis K, Bos EM, Calzia E, van Goor H, Coletta C, Papapetropoulos A, Hellmich MR, Radermacher P, Bouillaud F, Szabo C. Regulation of mitochondrial bioenergetic function by hydrogen sulfide. Part II. Pathophysiological and therapeutic aspects. Br J Pharmacol.  171:2123-46, 2014. 
8. Módis K, Panopoulos P, Coletta C, Papapetropoulos A, Szabo C. Hydrogen sulfide-mediated stimulation of mitochondrial electron transport involves inhibition of the mitochondrial phosphodiesterase 2A, elevation of cAMP and activation of protein kinase A. Biochem Pharmacol.  86:1311-9, 2013. 
9. Szabo C, Coletta C, Chao C, Módis K, Szczesny B, Papapetropoulos A, Hellmich MR. Tumor-derived hydrogen sulfide, produced by cystathionine-β-synthase, stimulates bioenergetics, cell proliferation, and angiogenesis in colon cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.  110:12474-9, 2013. 
10. Módis K, Asimakopoulou A, Coletta C, Papapetropoulos A, Szabo C. Oxidative stress suppresses the cellular bioenergetic effect of the 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase/hydrogen sulfide pathway. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 433:401-7, 2013. 
11. Módis K, Coletta C, Erdélyi K, Papapetropoulos A, Szabo C. Intramitochondrial hydrogen sulfide production by 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase maintains mitochondrial electron flow and supports cellular bioenergetics. FASEB J. 27:601-11, 2013. 
12. Coletta C, Papapetropoulos A, Erdelyi K, Olah G, Módis K, Panopoulos P, Asimakopoulou A, Gerö D, Sharina I, Martin E, Szabo C. Hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide are mutually dependent in the regulation of angiogenesis and endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.  109:9161-6, 2012. 
13. Szabo C. Hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide are mutually dependent in the regulation of angiogenesis and endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. Antioxid Redox Signal.  17:68-80, 2012. 
14. Suzuki K, Olah G, Modis K, Coletta C, Kulp G, Gerö D, Szoleczky P, Chang T, Zhou Z, Wu L, Wang R, Papapetropoulos A, Szabo C. Hydrogen sulfide replacement therapy protects the vascular endothelium in hyperglycemia by preserving mitochondrial function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.  108:13829-34, 2011. 
15. Szabo C. Gasotransmitters: new frontiers for translational science. Sci Transl Med.  2:59ps54, 2010. 
16. Wintner EA, Deckwerth TL, Langston W, Bengtsson A, Leviten D, Hill P, Insko MA, Dumpit R, VandenEkart E, Toombs CF, Szabo C. A monobromobimane-based assay to measure the pharmacokinetic profile of reactive sulphide species in blood. Br J Pharmacol.  160:941-57, 2010. 
17. Toombs CF, Insko MA, Wintner EA, Deckwerth TL, Usansky H, Jamil K, Goldstein B, Cooreman M, Szabo C. Detection of exhaled hydrogen sulphide gas in healthy human volunteers during intravenous administration of sodium sulphide. Br J Clin Pharmacol.  69:626-36, 2010. 
18. Papapetropoulos A, Pyriochou A, Altaany Z, Yang G, Marazioti A, Zhou Z, Jeschke MG, Branski LK, Herndon DN, Wang R, Szabo C. Hydrogen sulfide is an endogenous stimulator of angiogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.  106:21972-7, 2009. 
19. Elrod JW, Calvert JW, Morrison J, Doeller JE, Kraus DW, Tao L, Jiao X, Scalia R, Kiss L, Szabo C, Kimura H, Chow CW, Lefer DJ. Hydrogen sulfide attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by preservation of mitochondrial function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.  104:15560-5, 2007. 
20. Szabo C. Hydrogen sulphide and its therapeutic potential. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 6:917-35, 2007. 

Link to NCBI mybibliography 

My Published Work and Citations in Google Scholar