Full Professor of Neurology
Hebrew University

EDUCATIONAL/TRAINING
1980-1986: Medicine (M.D.) Aristotelion University Medical School Thessaloniki, Greece
1989-1994: Specialization in Neurology (Neurology board) Hadassah-Hebrew University, Neurology Department
1990-1994: Neurobiology (Immunology) (Ph.D.) Hadassah University Medical School

Positions

1990-1995 – Neurology residency in the Department of Neurology, Hadassah University Hospital.
1995 – Board certification in Neurology
1995-present – Senior Neurologist in the Department of Neurology, Hadassah University Hospital
1998 – Senior lecturer in Neurology, The Hebrew University, Faculty of Medicine
2003 – Associate Professor of Neurology, The Hebrew University, Faculty of Medicine.
2013 – Full Professor of Neurology, The Hebrew University, Faculty of Medicine.
2007 – today – Chairman of Multiple Sclerosis Center, Hadassah
2010-today: President of the Israeli Neuroimmunological Society
2015-present: Director of the Hadassah Unit of Neuroimmunology and cell therapies
2016: President of the world congress of Neuroimmunology in Jerusalem (International society of Neuroimmunology) 

Activities

2000- today: Member of teaching committees in Neurology in the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University.
1993-today: Member of the American Academy of Neurology
2000-today: Member of the Executive and Scientific Committee of the European School of Neuroimmunology (ESNI)
2006-2010:   Member of the Executive Committee of the European ECTRIMS association for multiple sclerosis
2004-today (various years):  Member of the Scientific Committee of the ECTRIMS, EFNS and ISNI
2005-today: Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Israeli MS Society
2008-today:   Member of the International Steering Committee for the use of stem cells in MS
2008-today: Chairman of the Unit of Neuroimmunology and cell therapies at Hadassah HMO and Head of the Hadassah MS Center
2016: Organizer andPresident of the International Neuroimmunology ISNI meetingin Jerusalem.
2010-today: President of the Israeli society of Neuroimmunologyand organizer of 6 local and 3 International Neuroimmunology meetings.
2002-today: Principal Investigator of more than 50 clinical trialsin multiple sclerosis and ALS, including 4 double blind trials, initiated and performed in the Hadassah Neuroimmunology Unit. 

Member of editorial boards in medical journals:

2009-today: Member of the Editorial Board of the journal: “International Multiple Sclerosis”
2011-today: Member of the Editorial Board (Associate editor) of the journal: “Journal of Neurological Sciences”
2012-today: Member of the Editorial Board (Associate editor) of the journal: “World Journal of Neurology”

Research Grants and recent projects:

1994-1995: The Chief Scientist of Ministry of Healthgrant
1998: The Harry Stern Center for researchin Alzheimer’s disease, grant.
2002: The National Institute of Neuropsychobiology Grant
1995-today: Various Grants from TEVA company, BRAINSTORM, PHARMACIA, BIOGEN and SCHERING for research of immunomodulating treatments in MS (Linomide etc) (total 500,000 USD)
2009: Research fellowship grant from the European Committee of ECTRIMS
2010: BrainStorm Therapeutics Grant for the ALS MSC studies: 1,500,000 USD
2012: Gathy Foundation competitive grant for NMO research: 96,000 USD (with Dr Vaknin)
2013: ISF (Israel Science Foundation) Grant: Novel therapeutic modalities for the treatment of  Multiple sclerosis (MS): a multi-Disciplinary approach (Total: 2,000,000 IS, for 4 investigators)
2015: BrainStorm Therapeutics Grant for the ALS MSC phase II clinical trials with enhanced mesenchymal stem cells: 1,500,000 USD
2016: Donations-based grants for the MSC MS trial summing to 1,500,000 USD: Phase IIb, double blind clinical trial with MSC stem cells in MS patients

International Patents

  1. International patent for the use of “Linomide” in multiple sclerosis (US patent: 5,580,882)
  2. Patent for use of farnesyl-thiosalycylic acid (FTS) in EAE and multiple sclerosis (pending).
  3. Patent for neurospheres produced by mesenchymal stem cells (pending)

Publications (a very short list out of a total of more than 120, peer-reviewed papers)

  1. Karussis, D.M, Lehmann, D., Slavin, S., Vourka-Karussis, U., Mizrachi-Koll, R., Ovadia, H., Kalland, T., and Abramsky, O. (1993). Successful treatment of chronic relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by the synthetic immunomodulator quinoline-3-carboxamide (linomide). Nat. Acad. Sci.90:6400-6404.
  2. Karussis, D.M., Vourka-Karussis, U., Lehmann, D., Ovadia, H., Mizrachi-Koll, R., Slavin, S., and Abramsky, O. (1993). Inhibition of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis with linomide (LS-2616), a synthetic immunomodulator. Neurol.34:654-660.
  3. Karussis, D.M., et al. Prevention and reversal of adoptively transferred chronic-relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis with a single high dose cytoreductive treatment followed by syngeneic bone marrow transplantation. Clin. Invest. 92:765-772. (1993)
  4. Karussis, D., et al. Treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis with the immunomodulator Linomide: A pilot double blind placebo controlled study with monthly MRI evaluation. Neurology 47:341-346 (1996).
  5. Karussis, A. Ashkenazi, R. Leker, O. Abramsky. A subgroup of MS patients and anticardiolipin Abs and unusual clinical manifestations; Do they represent a new nosological entity ? Ann. Neurol. 1998: 44:629-634.
  6. Kassis, I, Grigoriadis, N, Gowda-Kurkalli, B, Ben-Hur, T, Einstein, O, Mizrachi-Koll, R, Slavin, S, Abramsky, O andKarussis, D. (2008). Immunomodulation and neuroprotection with bone marrow derived MSCs in the chronic model of EAE. Archives of Neurology; June  (65): 753-61
  7. Karussis, , C. Karageorgiou, B. Gowda-Kurkalli, A. Vaknin-Dembinsky, JM. Gomori, I. Kassis, J. Bulte, T. Ben-Hur, S. Slavin. Pilot Phase I/II clinical trial with autologous bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal stem cells in patients with multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Archives of Neurology2010;67(10):1187-119.
  8. Vaknin-Dembinsky, L. Brill, N. Orpaz, O. Abramsky and D. Karussis. Preferential increase of B cells activating factor (BAFF) in the CSF of NMO, in a Caucasian population. Multiple Sclerosis, 10: 2010.
  9. Vaknin-Dembinsky, L. Brill, I. Kassis, P. Petrou, H. Ovadia, T. Ben-Hur, O. Abramsky, D. Karussis. Myasthenia gravis with anti-aquaporin 4 antibodies and CNS involvement; a series of 14 patients. A new nosological entity or an overlap auroimmune syndrome Archives of Neurology, 2011 Dec; 68(12):1557-61.
  10. Vaknin-Dembinsky, L. Brill, I. Kassis, P. Petrou, H. Ovadia, T. Ben-Hur, O. Abramsky, D. Karussis. T-cell responses to aquaporin-4 and its epitopes in neuromyelitis NMO. Neurology(2012). Aug 28;79(9):945-6.
  11. Dimitrios Karussis. Worldwide experience with stem cells in Neurological diseases. April 2012.
  12. Dimitrios Karussis. Immunotherapy of multiple sclerosis: The state of the art. Biodrugs(2013) Apr;27(2):113-48.
  13. Karussis D,Petrou, P. The spectrum of post-vaccination demyelinating CNS syndromes. Autoimmunity Reviews(2013), Mar;13(3):215-2.
  14. Brill,, Karni, A., Petrou, P., Ben-Hur, T., Abramsky, O., Karussis, D., Vaknin Dembinsky, A. Anti Kir4.1 antibodies in MS and NMO: A biomarker for relapse ? . Multiple sclerosis. (2014). Apr;21(5):572-9.
  15. Karussis, D., Petrou, P., Vourka-Karussis, U., Kassis, I. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Multiple sclerosis. (Invited Review). Expert Reviews in Neurotherapeutics, 2013, May;13(5):567-78.
  16. Vaknin-Dembinsky, A., Karussis, D., Petrou, P., Ben-Hur, T., Abramsky, O., and A. Lossos. Tumefactive demyelination following in vitro fertilization treatment. Neurol. Sci.(2015) Jan 15;348(1-2):256-8.
  17. Vaknin-Dembinsky, A., Karussis, D., Abramsky, O. NMO spectrum of diseases: A paradigm of astrocytes targeting autoimmunity and its implications for MS, NMO and other demyelinating CNS diseases. Autoimmunity. (2014). Nov;54:93-9.
  18. Brill L, Goldberg L, Karni A, Petrou P, Abramsky O, Ovadia H, Ben-Hur T, Karussis D, Vaknin-Dembinsky A. Increased anti-KIR4.1 antibodies in multiple sclerosis: could it be a marker of disease relapse? Mult Scler. 2015
    Apr;21(5):572-9.
  19. Petrou, P, Gothelf, Y, Argov, Z, Gotkine, M, Levi, Y, Kassis, I, Vaknin Dembinsky, A, Ben Hur, T, Offen, D, Abramsky, O, Melamed, E, and Karussis, D. Safety and clinical effects of mesenchymal stem cells secreting neurotrophic factors transplantation in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: results of a phase 1/2 and 2a clinical trial JAMA Neurology2016 Mar;73(3):337-44.
  20. Petrou P, Ben-Hur T, Vaknin-Dembinsky A, Abramsky O,Karussis D. Clinical Efficacy of Plasma-Exchange in Patients with Progressive forms of Multiple Sclerosis and NMO-Spectrum Disease. J Mult Scler2016, 3:3
  21. Karussis, D. Multiple sclerosis, in International Encyclopedia of public health. 2016.
  22. Vaknin-Dembinsky A, Brill L, Kassis I, Petrou P, Ovadia H, Ben-Hur T, Abramsky O, Karussis D.T-cell responses to distinct AQP4 peptides in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2016 Mar;6:28-36.
  23. Brill L, Mandel M, Karussis D, Petrou P, Miller K, Ben-Hur T, Karni A, Paltiel O, Israel S, Vaknin-Dembinsky A. Increased occurrence of anti-AQP4 seropositivity and unique HLA Class II associations with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), among Muslim Arabs in Israel. J Neuroimmunol. 2016 Apr 15;293:65-70.
  24. Karussis D, Petrou P. Immune reconstitution therapy (IRT) in multiple sclerosis: the rationale. Immunol Res. 2018 Nov 16

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