FitzGerald was presented the fellowship, the Society’s highest honor, by its president, David Webb during the organization’s annual conference in London this month. The award recognizes FitzGerald’s “sustained leadership in translational medicine.” Translational medicine begins as basic research in the laboratory and is translated or applied to improving patients’ health.
Among his research efforts, FitzGerald seeks to understand the mechanisms of drug action. His work was pivotal in showing that low-dose aspirin can prevent cardiovascular disease by blocking the clumping of blood cells called platelets, which can result in clots and lead to heart attacks.
In 1999 he and colleagues found that anti-inflammatory drugs called COX-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex and Vioxx, could represent a cardiovascular risk in some patients. Vioxx was voluntarily removed from the market five years later, after a subsequent study found a clear link between it and heart attack and stroke. These findings have been corroborated in more than ten additional studies. FitzGerald continues to work in this area, including conducting research on prostanoids, fatty acids that regulate normal vascular function. Another major research interest is molecular clocks. These internal “timers,” found in most cells and tissues, control circadian rhythms. Among many vital functions, they regulate sleep/wake cycles, body temperature, metabolism, and blood pressure, which are normally lower at night and peaks in the middle of the afternoon. FitzGerald's team was the first to discover a molecular clock in the cardiovascular system.
Circadian rhythms also result in variation throughout the day in the absorption, and hence efficacy and possible side effects, of medications. Drugs also affect circadian clock function. In efforts to better understand this phenomenon in terms of cardiovascular health, FitzGerald and others are uncovering how the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the body’s master clock regulates and interacts with clocks in the vascular system.
He has received the Boyle, Coakley, Harvey, and St. Patrick’s Day medals; the American Heart Association’s Distinguished Scientist, Phillips, Lucian, Scheele, PhRMA Foundation, and Hunter awards; the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad; and the Cameron, Taylor, Herz, Lefoulon-Delalande, and Schottenstein prizes. He was also awarded the 2013 Grand Prix Scientifique by the Institut de France, one of the largest prizes for scientific accomplishment and the world’s most prestigious prize for cardiovascular research.
He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy, fellow of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences, and fellow of the Royal Society.
FitzGerald’s is one of 44 fellowships and 13 honorary fellowships awarded this year by the British Pharmacological Society. The Society is a UK-based global organization for pharmacologists and supports research into drugs and how they work. It has over 3,500 members from more than 60 countries.Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $5.3 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 18 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $373 million awarded in the 2015 fiscal year.The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Chestnut Hill Hospital and Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2015, Penn Medicine provided $253.3 million to benefit our community.
RSS