Iván Izquierdo

For more than 20 years, he worked in the "Center of Memory" of the Biochemistry Department of the Health Basic Sciences Institute (ICBS) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), where he had an enormous influence on young scientists: he trained 42 Ph.D. students, most of whom hold academic research positions in universities in Brazil and elsewhere. Later, he moved to the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) where he continued with his research. Izquierdo died from pneumonia on 9 February 2021, in Porto Alegre. He was 83.

Iván Izquierdo studied at Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Buenos Aires. The recorded working language is Spanish and Portuguese. The field of work recorded is neurology. Employment is recorded with National University of Córdoba and Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. Distinctions recorded are TWAS Prize for Medical Sciences and Guggenheim Fellowship.

• Name — Ivan Antonio Izquierdo • Born — 16 September 1937 • Birthplace — Buenos Aires, Argentina • Died — 9 February 2021 • Place of death — Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil • Citizenship — Argentinian Brazilian • Fields — Neurology Neurobiology • Workplaces — Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul • Education — University of Buenos Aires • Known for — Study of memory in mammals • Awards — Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico Order of Rio Branco Doctor honoris causa, University of Buenos Aires

Ivan Izquierdo made several key contributions to the understanding of the cellular basis of brain processes underlying memory storage and retrieval. His research work was focused in the biological mechanisms of memory processes, employing multiple experimental approaches that range from behavioral psychobiology to neurochemistry, pharmacology, neurophysiology and experimental neurology, usually employing intracerebral microinfusions of drugs and assaying its effects upon different brain receptors, cellular processes, and, in particular, behavioral performance in different tasks. He was among the first to reveal the roles of epinephrine, dopamine, endogenous opioid peptides and acetylcholine in modulating memory consolidation and state-dependent memory retrieval. Later he investigated benzodiazepine and GABAergic influences on memory. Some of his main achievements included the molecular bases of memory formation, retrieval, persistence and extinction in the mammal brain, the endogenous state dependency, and the functional discrimination between short and long-term memory.