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.