Rate My Professor Csaba Szabo

Csaba Szabo is Professor and Chair of Pharmacology in the Section of Medicine at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, a position he has held since 2018. He also serves as President of the Department of Oncology, Microbiology and Immunology. Prior to joining Fribourg, Szabo held professorships in pharmacology, experimental surgery, and anesthesiology at several U.S. institutions between 1994 and 2018, including the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where he directed research on hydrogen sulfide biology and related pathways. Originally trained as an M.D. and Ph.D. at Semmelweis University Medical School in Budapest, Hungary, he completed postdoctoral fellowship with Nobel Laureate Sir John Vane at the William Harvey Research Institute in London.

Szabo's research investigates the biological and pathophysiological roles of labile small biological mediators, including reactive oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur species such as nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide, and persulfides, as well as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activation. His work emphasizes translational pharmacology and drug development for diseases including cardiovascular disorders, inflammation, stroke, cancer, neurodegenerative conditions, and Down syndrome, with specific projects on the 3-MST/H2S system in metabolic disease, CBS/H2S in Down syndrome, and PARP in lung injury, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Key publications include the highly cited review 'Peroxynitrite: biochemistry, pathophysiology and development of therapeutics' (2007), 'Hydrogen sulphide and its therapeutic potential' (2007), 'The therapeutic potential of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors' (2002), the book 'Adenosine Receptors: Therapeutic Aspects for Inflammatory and Immune Diseases' (2006), and recent papers such as 'Physiological concentrations of cyanide stimulate mitochondrial Complex IV' (PNAS, 2021). With over 97,000 citations and recognition as one of the world's most cited biomedical scientists, Szabo has profoundly influenced redox biology and gasotransmitter research. He received the Vane Medal from the British Pharmacological Society in 2021 and serves on editorial boards for journals including British Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacological Research.