Charles Mobbs
Professor, Neuroscience, Endocrinology, Geriatrics, & Pharmacology & Therapeutics Discovery Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Charles Mobbs received his B.S. degree from MIT, PhD from USC, carried out post-doctoral at Rockefeller University, and is now a professor in the departments of Neuroscience, Endocrinology, Geriatrics, and Pharmacology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. His research has focused on elucidating mechanisms by which dietary restriction generally delays age-related diseases, across a wide range of species. These studies led to the development of novel small molecules which mimic protective effects of dietary restriction to inhibit neuroinflammation and are protective in animal models of stroke and Alzheimer’s Disease, apparently mediated in part by the Sigma-1 receptor.
Seminars
- The role of sigma-1 receptor as a broad anti-inflammatory mediator, impacting multiple cytokines beyond single targets like TNF-alpha
- Use of phenotypic screening approaches focusing on reversing disease-related impairments (e.g., cognitive deficits caused by amyloid-beta 1-42 in Alzheimer’s) rather than directly blocking pathogenic molecules
- Evidence that targeting impairments downstream of toxic proteins, rather than the proteins themselves, may offer more effective and practical therapeutic strategies
- Comparison with other inflammatory targets such as NF-kappa B, highlighting sigma-1 receptor’s broader and potentially safer anti-inflammatory profile
- The paradigm shift from target-centric to phenotype-driven drug discovery, where finding drugs that work precedes elucidating their precise mechanisms
