Alex Sevanian

Alex Sevanian (Nov. 3, 1946 - Feb. 17, 2005) was an American pharmacologist.

The Sevanian family emigrated to the U.S.A. and lived in San Francisco prior to settling in the San Fernando Valley (near Los Angeles). His father, Ara Sevanian, is a composer and kanonist. His works have been performed by, among others, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, which, in fact, performed a world premiere of a Sevanian symphony conducted by the now late Vakhtang Jordania.

Dr. Sevanian earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from California State University, Northridge and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He went on to do postdoctoral training at UCLA under James Mead, and he worked as an assistant research biochemist in the Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology. In 1981, Sevanian became one of the founding faculty members of (Dr. Paul Hochstein’s) Institute for Toxicology at the University of Southern California (USC), which specialized in free radical and oxidative stress research. Sevanian quickly progressed from Assistant Professor, to Associate Professor, and to full Professor. The institute merged into the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology of the School of Pharmacy at USC in the early 1990’s, and Sevanian remained there, working as a Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology. He also held an appointment as Professor of Pathology in USC’s Keck School of Medicine. In 1988 Sevanian became a founding member of the Oxygen Society (now the Society for Free Radical Biology & Medicine), and he later served as Councilor, Secretary General, and finally Treasurer of the International Society for Free Radical Research (SFRR, International).

Sevanian made major contributions to the understanding of phospholipases as repair enzymes for oxidized membrane lipids. He worked to identify specific oxidative mechanisms in atherosclerosis. A sizable portion of his research focused on the role that lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, and modified lipoproteins play in the progression of cardiovascular disease, which he hoped would lead to the discovery of therapeutic interventions. Along with his colleagues in the USC Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Sevanian identified a modified low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that contributes to atherosclerosis in humans.

Sevanian died on Feb. 17, 2005 following a lengthy battle with cancer.