Ivan Antonio Izquierdo Gobic, Argentine-born Brazilian neurobiochemist (Buenos Aires 16 September 1937 – Porto Alegre 09 February 2021)

Son of Croatian mother

ACHIEVEMENTS

Internationally respected as world leader in memory physiology 

Pioneer on research about endogenous opioids  

Discovered neurohumoral (β-endorfine & benzodiazepinics) and hormone mechanisms  that regulates formation, evocation, persistence and extinction of memory  

Obtained the memory solidification map

Determinated the cascade of biochemical events in hippocampus and in other brain structures required to memories formation 

Discovered functional, anatomical and molecular separation between short term and long term memories (1998) and the endogenous state dependence as a key regulator in memory and brain functioning  

Discovered the key role of neurotrophic factors and ubiquitine/proteasome system in hippocampus for memory formation (2001-6)

With J. Medina, M. Cammarota, J. Rossato & B. Bevilaqua discovered brain mechanism via dopamine that controls the persistence of recollections in the memory (2009)

With J. Miskiw & C. Furini discovered a hippocampal mechanism that causes fear memory extinction (2014)

Authored with J.H. Medina. Memory formation: the sequence of biochemical events in the hippocampus and its connection to activity in other brain structures. Neurobiol. Learn. Memory 68(3):285-316, 1997 (with over 1,000 citations)

With D.M. Barros, T. Mello e Souza, M.M. de Souza, L.A. Izquierdo & J.H. Medina. Mechanisms for memory types differ, Nature 393:635-6, 1998  

Held over 25,000 citations

HONOURS

UNESCO – Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in Life Sciences (2017)