Salvador Moncada, MD, obtained his PhD in
the early 1970s at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, where he
contributed to the discovery that aspirin-like drugs inhibit prostaglandin
biosynthesis, thus accounting for their analgesic, anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory
actions.
In 1975 he joined the Wellcome Research
Laboratories where he initiated the work leading to the discovery of the enzyme
thromboxane synthase and
the vasodilator prostacyclin. This work contributed
to the understanding of how low doses of aspirin prevent cardiovascular
episodes such as myocardial infarction and stroke.
He was also responsible
for the identification of nitric oxide as a biological mediator and the
elucidation of the metabolic pathway leading to its synthesis. A great deal of the early work on the
biological significance of nitric oxide in the cardiovascular system came from
his laboratory as well as some fundamental information about the role of nitric
oxide in the peripheral and central nervous system and in cancer.
In 1996 Prof. Moncada moved to University College London to establish and
direct the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research.
He has continued his
research more recently in the areas of mitochondrial biology and cell
metabolism where he has made significant contributions. It is at this point when he became
interested in glycolysis and made the findings that
he is going to discuss this afternoon.
Professor Moncada is a Fellow of the Royal
Society and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Science of the USA
and earlier this year he received a Knighthood for his services to Science.