Dr. Theorharis Theoharides is Professor of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine as well as Director of Molecular Immunopharmacology and Drug Discovery, in the Department of Immunology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.
He graduated with Honors from Anatolia College in Greece and received all his degrees with Honors from Yale University and was awarded the Dean’s Research Award and the Winternitz Price in Pathology.
He trained in internal medicine at New England Medical Center, which awarded him the Oliver Smith Award “recognising excellence, compassion and service.” He also received a Certificate in Global Leadership from the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a Fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He has been serving as the Clinical Pharmacologist of the Massachusetts Drug Formulary Commission continuously since 1986.
In Greece, he served on the Supreme Advisory Health Councils of the Ministries of Health and of Social Welfare, as well as on the Board of Directors of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Technology. He Chaired an International Committee appointed by the Hellenic Ministries of Education and Health for the establishment of an independent medical school in Greece, and he is a member of the International Advisory Committee for the University of Cyprus School of Medicine.
He is a member of 15 academies and scientific societies. He was inducted into the Alpha -Omega -Alpha National Medical Honor Society and the Rare Diseases Hall of Fame. He has received the Tufts Excellence in Teaching ten times, the Tufts Distinguished Faculty Recognition Award twice, the Tufts Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence, Boston Mayor’s Community Award, and the Dr. George Papanicolau Award, as well as Honorary Doctor of Medicine from Athens University, Honorary Doctor of Sciences from Hellenic-American University., and the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (Marquis Who is Who). He is “Archon” of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
He was first to show that mast cells are critical for inflammation, especially in the brain, and are involved in a number of inflammatory conditions that worsen by stress such as allergies, asthma, eczema, psoriasis, migraines, multiple sclerosis and most recently autism spectrum disorder. He has also shown that CRH, neurotensin and substance P, peptides secreted under stress, act together, and with the cytokine IL-33, to trigger mast cells and microglia to secrete inflammatory molecules. These processes are inhibited by the novel flavonoids, luteolin and tetramethoxyluteolin that he has helped formulate in unique dietary supplements and a skin lotion. He has published over 410 scientific papers (JBC, JACI, JPET, NEJM, Nature, PNAS, Science) and 3 textbooks with 30,501 citations (h-factor 86) and he is in the top 5% of authors most cited in pharmacological and immunological journals.
