Sir S Moncada FRS FMedSci

Professor Moncada’s scientific career began at the Royal College of Surgeons, where he was part of the team that discovered the mechanism of action of aspirin-like drugs, thus explaining their therapeutic actions as well as their main side effect, gastric damage. During his time at the Wellcome Research Laboratories he led the team that discovered thromboxane synthase and the vasodilator prostacyclin. This work is the basis for the understanding of how, low doses of aspirin, prevent cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes and it also explains the cardiovascular side effects of the so-called COX2 inhibitors. In the 1980s he identified nitric oxide as a biological mediator, the mechanism of its biosynthesis and many of its biological functions. As Director of Research at Wellcome, he oversaw the work that resulted in the discovery and development of several new medicines, including, Lamotrigine and Atovaquone. In 1995 he founded the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at UCL, which he directed until 2013. Since 2013 he has been at the University of Manchester, first as a Director of the Institute of Cancer Sciences and now as Cancer Domain Director.