Louis Ignarro facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Louis Joseph Ignarro
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Ignarro in 2013
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| Born | May 31, 1941 Brooklyn, NY, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University University of Minnesota |
| Known for | Nitric Oxide |
| Awards | Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine (1998) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Pharmacology |
| Institutions | Tulane University School of Medicine UCLA School of Medicine King Saud University |
Louis Joseph Ignarro (born May 31, 1941) is an American scientist who studies how medicines affect the body, a field called pharmacology. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1998. He shared this important award with two other scientists, Robert F. Furchgott and Ferid Murad. They won for showing how a special gas called nitric oxide helps our bodies send signals.
Dr. Ignarro is currently a retired professor of pharmacology at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles. He joined UCLA in 1985. Before that, he was a professor at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans for 12 years. He also worked for a pharmaceutical company called CIBA-GEIGY.
Dr. Ignarro has written many science papers. He received the Basic Research Prize from the American Heart Association in 1998. This award recognized his great work in understanding the heart and blood vessels. In the same year, he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The next year, he joined the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. .....
He started the Nitric Oxide Society and is the main editor of a science magazine called Nitric Oxide Biology and Chemistry. Dr. Ignarro earned his first degree in pharmacy from Columbia University in 1962. He then got his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota in 1966. He also did special research at the National Institutes of Health in 1968. He is part of the science team for Nicox, a French medicine company. He is also on the board of directors for Antibe Therapeutics, a Canadian drug company, and Operation USA, a non-profit group. He used to be on the science board for Herbalife, a company that sells health products.
Contents
About Louis Ignarro's Life
Louis J. Ignarro was born in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents came from Italy, and his father was a carpenter. Louis grew up in Long Beach, New York, which is a town near New York City. When he was 8 years old, he received his first chemistry set as a gift. This gift sparked his interest in science.
Dr. Ignarro is married to Dr. Sharon Ignarro, who is an anesthesiologist. They live in Beverly Hills, California. He loves to ride bikes and run marathons, having finished 13 marathons. Dr. Ignarro has written several books for everyone to read about health and wellness. These books often talk about how to make more nitric oxide in your body. He often gives talks to the public about these topics.
His Journey in Science
Dr. Ignarro went to Central Grade School and Long Beach High School. He was very interested in science. He went to Columbia University to study chemistry and pharmacology. In 1962, he earned his bachelor's degree in pharmacy. After that, he went to the University of Minnesota and earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology. During his studies, he also focused on chemistry, enzymes, and how the heart and blood vessels work. This led to him publishing several research papers. At the University of Minnesota, he studied with Paul D. Boyer, who later won a Nobel Prize.
After his studies, Dr. Ignarro continued his work at the NIH. He worked with many other scientists to discover how the body controls the heart and blood vessels. This research later led to his most famous discovery. In 1968, Dr. Ignarro left the NIH to work for Geigy Pharmaceuticals. There, he helped create new medicines and continued his research in pharmacology, including studying something called cyclic GMP. After Geigy joined with another company, Dr. Ignarro decided to go back to teaching and research at a university.
In 1973, Dr. Ignarro became an assistant professor of pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He chose Tulane because it was a good place to continue his research on cyclic GMP. While studying cyclic GMP, he read a paper by Ferid Murad. Murad's paper showed that nitric oxide could increase levels of cyclic GMP. This made Dr. Ignarro think that nitric oxide might be the key to relaxing blood vessel muscles. This idea led to his deep research into nitric oxide. Dr. Ignarro's research showed that nitric oxide helps relax blood vessels and stops blood clots from forming. Both of these effects happen because of cyclic GMP.
Dr. Ignarro kept doing his research at Tulane. In 1984, he realized that nitric oxide had the same properties as something called endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). EDRF had been found by Robert Furchgott three years earlier, but no one knew exactly what it was. Furchgott and Ignarro both came to similar ideas about nitric oxide being EDRF around the same time. However, it was Dr. Ignarro who showed clear experimental proof at conferences in 1986 that EDRF is indeed nitric oxide.
Since Dr. Ignarro and Furchgott's first research, thousands of studies have been published about nitric oxide. .....
In 1985, Dr. Ignarro moved to Los Angeles. He took a job at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he continues to research and teach today.
Working with Herbalife
Dr. Ignarro has worked as an advisor for Herbalife since 2003. He later became a member of the company's Scientific Advisory Board. He has helped develop health supplements for heart health and for athletes. Dr. Ignarro first worked with Herbalife to create Niteworks. This is a supplement designed to help the body make more nitric oxide. Dr. Ignarro supported this product and received money for his work.
Dr. Ignarro appears in videos that promote Niteworks and other Herbalife products. He often speaks at Herbalife events. Since working with Herbalife, Dr. Ignarro has talked to millions of people around the world about nitric oxide and heart health.
Famous Words
When speaking to the U.S. Congress in 2000, Dr. Ignarro said: "Only in America could the son of an uneducated carpenter receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine."
Awards and Special Recognitions
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Foundation Research Award (1973)
- Merck Research Award (1974)
- U.S.P.H.S. Career Development Award (1975 – 1980)
- Lilly Research Award (1978)
- Tulane Medical School – Outstanding Teacher Award (1983)
- UCLA School of Medicine – Outstanding Teacher Award (1986)
- AMSA Golden Apple Award (for teaching) – UCLA School of Medicine (many times from 1987 to 1999)
- Roussel Uclaf Prize for Cell Communication and Signaling (1994)
- CIBA Award for Hypertension Research (1995)
- Basic Research Prize of the American Heart Association (1998)
- Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine (1998)
- National Academy of Sciences (1999)
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999)
- Institute of Medicine (2011)
- American Philosophical Society (2007)
- Canadian Medal of Merit (2008)
- American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist (2008)
- Honorary doctorates from several universities, including Madrid, Lund, Gent, North Carolina, and Naples Federico II
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (2014)
Groups He Belongs To
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- American Physiological Society
- American Society for Cell Biology
- American Rheumatism Association
- American Society of Hematology
- Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
- American Heart Association
- Italy-USA Foundation
Books He Has Written
- NO More Heart Disease: How Nitric Oxide Can Prevent – Even Reverse – Heart Disease and Strokes. (2005)
- Nitric Oxide: Biology and Pathobiology. (2009)
- Health Is Wealth: 10 Power Nutrients That Increase Your Odds Of Living To 100. (2009)
- Health Is Wealth: Performance Nutrition. (2011)
- Survival of the Firmest: UCLA Doctors Describe Ten Steps to Better ..., a Longer Life and Reversing ... (ED). (2011)
- Dr. NO: The Discovery That Led to a Nobel Prize and .... (2022)
See also
- Arginine
- Nitric Oxide
- Pharmacology
- Pharmacy
