Nobel Prize winner to give Presidential Distinguished Lecture at UT Health Science Center

Dr. Louis J. Ignarro’s findings led to development of VIAGRA®

WHAT: Sixth Presidential Distinguished Lecture

WHEN: 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24

WHERE: Auditorium, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
7703 Floyd Curl Drive

WHO: Nobel Laureate Louis J. Ignarro, Ph.D.

DETAILS: Louis J. Ignarro, Ph.D., was awarded the Nobel Prize for his 1986 discovery that proved the human body uses nitric oxide, a colorless gas once regarded as nothing more than air pollution, to regulate blood vessels. He was the first to discover that a gas could act as a signaling molecule in a living organism. His researched sparked an international surge in scientific research of nitric oxide that later led to the invention of VIAGRA®, the world’s first oral medication for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, a disorder that affects approximately 30 million males in the United States. His findings could further lead to new cancer treatments, the prevention of vascular complications caused by diabetes and the reduction of deaths from cardiovascular disease. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Dr. Ignarro has been selected 11 consecutive times by medical students at The University of California, Los Angeles, where he currently teaches, to receive the Golden Apple Award for teaching excellence. The topic of his lecture for Wednesday is “Nitric Oxide as a Unique Signaling Molecule in Biology.”

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $576 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields.



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