Corneliu E. Giurgea
Corneliu E. Giurgea (born January 6, 1923 in Bucharest ; † December 30, 1995 in Brussels ) was a Romanian-Belgian doctor , psychologist , physiologist and pharmacologist who first synthesized the substance piracetam in 1964 , and for this and similar substances coined the term nootropic .
Live and act
Giurgea was born on January 6, 1923 in Bucharest, Romania, to a Jewish family, but he later described himself as an atheist.
He later earned a Doctor of Medicine from Bucharest University and a Ph.D. from the "Pavlov" State Medical University in Leningrad .
Giurgea gave courses on psychopharmacology at the University of Bucharest , and devoted himself particularly to the scientific research into the effects of drugs on mood, perception, as well as thinking and behavior.
Emmanuel Janssen from the Belgian pharmaceutical company Union Chimique Belge recruited Giurgea, who then traveled to Belgium, where he took on a position at UCB as head of the neuropharmacology department.
Giurgea and his team began researching soothing “inhibitory” drugs with sedative effects in 1963, focusing on cyclic derivatives of the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
Following their working hypothesis, the scientists assumed that the derivatives would be new sedating hypnotics as they could mediate inhibition in the brain.
However, animal experiments on rats and rabbits did not reveal any evidence of a sedative effect until 1965, but Giurgea noticed the unusual pharmacology of a specific substance that he named UCB 6215 : it inhibited vestibular nystagmus in rabbits.
Subsequently, UCB 6215 was also tested in humans. Patients who had suffered a concussion and were treated with the substance showed a statistically significant improvement in their recovery and improvement in memory compared to a control group. The lack of chemical toxicity in humans could also be confirmed.
Giurgea coined the term nootropic for UCB 6215, which was marketed as Piracetam .
He died on December 30, 1995 in Brussels.
Fonts
Books
- Le Vieillissement Cerebral: Normal Et Reussi, Le Defi Du XXIe Siecle 1993 ISBN 978-2-87009-539-3
- L'heritage De Pavlov: Un Demi-Siecle Apres Sa Mort 1986 ISBN 978-2-87009-279-8
- Fundamentals to a pharmacology of the mind 1981 ISBN 978-0-398-04130-4
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Giurgea, Corneliu E. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Romanian psychologist and chemist, discoverer of piracetam |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 6, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bucharest |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 30, 1995 |
| Place of death | Brussels |