Rambam Health Care Campus is proud and honored to bestow the 2023 Rambam Award upon Professor Emeritus Moussa Youdim in recognition of his leadership and vision in the pharmaceutical sciences; pioneering research in neuropharmacology; discovery of an effective Parkinson’s disease treatment; his inspirational impact on medicine and research throughout Israel by establishing the Youdim Family Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research; and his exemplary leadership that is inspiring a new generation of medical practitioners, particularly here at Rambam Health Care Campus.
Born in Tehran in 1940, Youdim’s family name, from the word “knowledge” in Hebrew, would be prophetic of his life and achievements. Sent to a boarding school in England at the age of 12, Youdim would never return to Tehran. Rather, his pursuit of knowledge led him to McGill University Medical School. Intrigued by the biochemistry of the brain, he pursued a doctorate in biochemistry and psychiatry. After completing his studies, Youdim worked at the University of London, University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford.
Youdim immigrated to Israel in 1977 to establish the Pharmacology Department in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine of the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, which he headed from 1977–1994. Youdim’s leadership was marked by his passionate pursuit of pharmacological research. He had already become curious regarding drug therapies for Parkinson’s disease back in 1972. At the Technion, and working together with Teva Pharmaceuticals and his colleague, Professor John Finberg, an effective treatment was developed by 1981. It would take 25 years for that drug to finally be approved by America’s Food and Drug Administration. However, today, hat drug – Azilect – is now used worldwide.
During his close to fifty years of research, Youdim elucidated basic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and helped develop innovative drugs for treating Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The recipient of more than 50 national and international prizes, awards, and honors from more than 12 nations, he recently received the highest award granted by the Israeli government to scientists: The Israel Prize in Life Sciences for 2022 in recognition of his “pioneering, groundbreaking scientific achievements in the field of neuropharmacology.
Beyond these accomplishments, Youdim holds over 100 drug patents, has published more than 900 scientific articles, edited 45 books, and has been an editorial board member of 43 international scientific journals.
Youdim’s life work is an ongoing inspiration to every researcher at Rambam Health Care Campus and he has had an unparalleled impact on pharmaceutical innovation, and neuropharmacology and its treatment worldwide.
In acknowledgement of all the aforesaid, the Honorary Awards Committee has found Professor Emeritus Moussa Youdim deserving of the 2023 Rambam Award.
