Charles Brenner (biochemist)

Charles Brenner (born October 30, 1961) is the inaugural Alfred E Mann Family Foundation Chair of the Department of Diabetes & Cancer Metabolism at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center.

[9][2][10] In 2020, Brenner joined City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California as the inaugural Alfred E Mann Family Foundation Chair in Diabetes and Cancer Metabolism.

[16][17] Significant research projects include the role of Ap3A bindings in the function of the FHIT tumor suppressor gene,[18] characterization and inhibition of DNA methylation,[19][20] and discovery of new steps in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) metabolism.

[27][28][29][30][31][32] Brenner is active in translating NR technologies to treat and prevent human conditions that disturb the NAD system including cancer[29] diabetic and chemotherapeutic peripheral neuropathy,[33][34] heart failure,[28] central brain injury,[30] inflammation,[31] mitochondrial myopathy[32] pellagra, and infections[27] such as coronavirus infection[6][35] Brenner's work included the first human trial of NR in 2016, which demonstrated safe oral availability as an NAD+ precursor.

Supplementing rodent mothers with NR increases maternal weight loss, advances juvenile development and provides long lasting neurodevelopmental advantages into adulthood.

[42][43][44] After writing a favorable review of Steven Austad's book Methuselah's Zoo,[45] he reviewed Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don't Have To by David A. Sinclair, summarizing it as "an influential source of misinformation on longevity, featuring counterfactual claims about longevity genes being conserved between yeast and humans, the existence of supposed activators of these genes, and claimed successful age reversal in mice based on partial reprogramming.

[47] In 2012, Brenner and Dagmar Ringe developed pre-medical curriculum recommendations that would be consistent with a revised Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), following a request from the President of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Suzanne Pfeffer.

[48][49] The recommendations, which include development of inorganic, organic and biochemistry coursework that is more geared toward the chemistry of bioorganic functional groups, have been further refined in academic journals.