J. Pablo Huidobro-Toro MD. Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Presidential Chair in Science.

Dr. Huidobro-Toro is a renowed neuropharmacologist with experimental training in physiology as well as in the more modern methodologies of molecular biology as applied to the physiological sciences. With a strong background in organic chemistry, he became interested in the psychopharmacology due to the synthesis of several compounds with biological activity at adrenergic and serotoninergic synapses. His research has been devoted to the understanding of how membrane bound receptors recognize and activate intracellular cascades that bring about changes in behavior. Dr Huidobr-Toro did pioneer work on the addiction potential of endorphin, the recently discovered endogenous ligand of the m-opiate receptor. In 1980, he joined the Department of Pharmacology at the Medical School, University of California in San Francisco to continue working on the notion that dynorphin is the k-opiate receptor ligand, and in 1982, he moved to the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Catholic University, where he started the pharmacology laboratory. In 1988 he was appointed as Dean of Graduate Studies of the P. Catholic University. He was honored with a Presidential Chair in Science.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS: Post-Doctoral Fellow, School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Post-Doctoral Fellow, School of Medicine, New York University, New York City. Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Visiting Professor, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Health Science Center, Denver. Full Professor, P. Catholic University of Chile, Faculty of Biological Sciences.

PUBLICACIONES: 63 original articles.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. & Harris, R.A. (1996). Brain lipids that induce sleep are novel modulators of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93, 8078-8082.

Donoso, M.V., Brown, N., Carrasco, C., Cortés, V., Fournier, A. & HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. (1997). Stimulation of the sympathetic perimesenteric arterial nerves releases neuropeptide Y potentiating the vasomotor activity of noradrenaline: involvement of neuropeptide Y-Y₁ receptors. Neurochem 69, 1048-1059.

Racchi, H., Irarrázabal, M.J., Howard, M., Moran, S., & HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. (1999). Adenosine 5-triphosphate is a co-transmitter together with neuropeptide Y and noradrenaline in the neuroeffector junction of the human saphenous vein. Br. J. Pharmacol., 126, 1175-1185.

Acuña-Castillo, C., Villalobos, C., Moya., P.R., Sáez, P., Cassels, B.K. and HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. (2002). “Differences in potency and efficacy of a series of phenylisopropylamine/phenylethylamine pairs at 5-HT_2A and 5HT_2C receptors”. Br. J. Pharmacol. 136, 510-519.

Buvinic, S., Briones, R. and HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. (2002). “P2Y1 and P2Y2 receptors are coupled to the NO/cGMP pathway to vasodilate the rat arterial mesenteric bed”. Br. J. Pharmacol. 136, 847-856

Coddou, C., Loyola, G., Boyer, J.L., BRONFMAN, M. and HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. “The hypolipidemic drug metabolites nafenopin-CoA and ciprofibroyl-CoA are competitive P2Y₁ receptor antagonists”. FEBS 536: 145-150.

Donoso, M.V., Carvajal, A., Paredes, A., Tomic, A., Koenig, C.S. and HUIDOBRO-TORO, J.P. (2002). “_2-Adrenoceptors control the release of noradrenaline but not neuropeptide Y from perivascular nerve terminals”. Peptides 23, 1663-1671.