Arnold Melman, M.D.

Dr. Melman is a Co-Founder and Directing Member of Ion Channel Innovations and serves as scientific advisor.

Dr. Melman has been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urology of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Montefiore Medical Center since 1988. He has an active clinical urology practice and is head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Integrative Urology. He is a Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude, and Salk Scholar graduate of the College of the City of New York. He graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1966 and completed his surgical training there in 1968.

He was a clinical fellow in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1968 to 1970. Dr. Melman's Urology training was accomplished at the UCLA Medical Center from 1970 to 1974. Prior to attaining his current academic position he was Chief of Urology at the Indianapolis Veterans Hospital, Professor of Urology at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and Chief of Urology at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.

Dr. Melman is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles (see publications). Melman is the Program Director of an NIH-funded $5 million, 5-year Program Project Grant entitled, "Smooth Muscle, Differential Tissue Function & Diabetes." The grant, now in its second year, is comprised of four primary studies and three cores. He will be the principal investigator of the study entitled, "Diabetes and Urogenital Smooth Muscle Function In vivo." He is the President of the Society of Salk Scholars of the City University of New York and chairman of the Ethics Committee of the International Society of Sexuality and Impotence Research. He is the immediate past co-editor of the International Journal of Impotence Research and past President of the Society for the Study of Impotence.

He is an advisor to the United States Food and Drug Administration and was Chairman of the Advisory Panel for Urologic Devices from 1995-1999. He is an advisor to the Federal Trade Commission and recently served as a member of the Special Emphasis Panel for Urology for the NIH.

Dr. Melman was recently awarded the John K. Lattimer award for outstanding leadership in Urology by the Kidney and Urology Foundation of America. Dr. Melman is a co-inventor of several other patented devices that are designed for urological applications. The Melman Drainage system was developed to aid in the comfort of those who need to use a urinary catheter. The Neurotest device is a diagnostic instrument that measures nerve changes with aging and various diseases such as diabetes mellitus.

Contact Dr. Melman:
Email: arnold.melman@gmail.com

George Christ, Ph.D.

Dr. Christ is a Co-Founder and Directing Member of Ion Channel Innovations and serves as scientific advisor.

Dr. Christ is Professor of Regenerative Medicine, Urology and Physiology & Pharmacology, and Head of the Program in Cell, Tissue and Organ Physiology at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He is also an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Dr. Christ received his B.S. in Biology from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Wake Forest University Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and his post-doctoral training in the Department of Pharmacology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

He was a faculty member at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Department of Urology from 1989 until 2004, where he originally joined Dr. Melman to establish the Urology Research Laboratories. During his 15 years at Albert Einstein College of Medicine he held academic positions of increasing responsibility and currently maintains a visiting appointment as Professor of Urology and Professor of Physiology & Biophysics. He was the founding Director of the Institute for Smooth Muscle Biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and currently maintains close research ties to the University via several NIH-funded research grants.

Dr. Christ is a member of numerous prestigious scientific organizations including Sigma Xi, the Society for Basic Urologic Research, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physiological Society, the International Society for Impotence Research, and the American Urological Association. He is the Chairman of the Division of Systems and Integrative Pharmacology of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Dr. Christ is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Impotence Research and the Associate Section Editor of the Investigative Urology section of the Journal of Urology. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of three other journals, and is a consultant to the His and Her Health website.

He has authored more than 130 scientific publications and has co-edited a book on smooth muscle. (see publications) Dr. Christ has served on both national and international committees related to his expertise in smooth muscle physiology and has served on NIH study sections in both the NIDDK and NHLBI. In particular, Dr. Christ was the Co-Chair of the Muscle Working Group for the recently convened NIDDK-sponsored Bladder Progress Review Group, as well as being Co-Chair for the Pharmacology of Erection Committee of the 2nd International Consultation on ED convened by the World Health Organization. He has chaired and organized numerous other national and international Symposia, and has lectured worldwide on smooth muscle physiology/dysfunction. He is a frequent reviewer for more than a dozen medical journals.

Contact Dr. Christ:
Office: 336-713-7296
Cell: 845-222-5142
Email: gchrist@wfubmc.edu