A Dublin-born clinical pharmacologist who explained how low-dose aspirin can help protect against heart attacks has won the 2005 Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence.
The University College Dublin medical graduate is currently a senior researcher, professor and department head at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Work done by Prof Garret FitzGerald has profoundly influenced the prescribing of low-dose aspirin used by millions of people around the world.
He also became embroiled in the controversy surrounding the withdrawal of one of the biggest selling arthritis pain relieving drugs, Vioxx. FitzGerald predicted and proved that Vioxx and drugs similar to it blocked the effects of low-dose aspirin, leaving patients at possible increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
The Royal Dublin Society and The Irish Times award the Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence every other year. It is given alternately to a research scientist working in Ireland and an Irish-born research scientist working abroad. The 2005 award is in the latter category, and given to celebrate the work done by the many excellent Irish scientists who have decided to pursue their careers abroad.
The medal award itself dates back to 1899 when the RDS instituted a prize for excellence in research. It is named after the great Irish scientist Robert Boyle who in 1662 formulated the gas pressure laws that bear his name.
The Irish Times joined with the RDS in the medal's centenary year to re-launch the Boyle Medal and a Boyle Medal bursary which accompanies the award in those years when it is given to a scientist working within Ireland.
"I was very surprised and very honoured," FitzGerald said when informed of the award. "I think it is an extremely important award. I think it is a great privilege to be honoured in this way."
He believes that science and its practice is a fundamental element of Irish society and the Boyle Medal "symbolises the rising importance of science in Irish culture. I think there is every reason why, given its historical resonance, this should assume the same position in our culture as major literary awards."
The Boyle Medal winner is chosen after two judging rounds. A panel of Irish scientific peers first considers all applicants and produces a shortlist of between two and five names that go forward for the second round.
For the final selection a group of international peers is assembled to consider shortlisted candidates. This panel makes the final selection, with all discussions overseen by one representative each from the RDS and The Irish Times.
One judge described FitzGerald's body of research work as an "outstanding contribution to classical clinical pharmacology". Another described it as "highly original" and said the findings were "of immediate consequence for millions of people".
Garret Adare FitzGerald attended Belvedere College before studying medicine at UCD. He worked in the St Vincent's and Mater hospitals and attended postgraduate medical school in London studying clinical pharmacology.
He held senior positions at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee before returning for a time to Dublin, where he was professor and chairman in the department of medicine and experimental therapeutics at UCD.
He is currently chairman of the department of pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania and also director of the university's Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. He is also a professor of medicine and pharmacology at the university and associate dean for translational research.
Prof FitzGerald will receive his Boyle Medal at a ceremony later this year and will be invited to deliver the traditional Boyle Medal laureate's public lecture, in which he will explain his work to a lay audience. He is not related to his namesake, the former taoiseach.
Expert panel: the Boyle judges
Prof Dorothy Guy-Ohlson is an expert in historical geology and palaeontology, with more than 100 research publications on her specialist research areas. Born in Scotland, she is a Swedish citizen and has a wealth of experience serving on educational and research committees in Sweden and at international level. She works for the European Commission in the Research Directorate-General, looking at the mobility of researchers within the European Research Area.
Prof Dervilla MX Donnelly is chairman of the Council of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. She was appointed to head the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction, is a past president of the RDS, served for many years on the board of the Irish Times Trust and was chair of the Custom House Docks Development Authority. An organic chemist, she is emeritus professor of organic chemistry at UCD, where she lectured for many years.
Prof John Enderby CBE, a former vice-president of the Royal Society, is a senior research fellow and professor of physics emeritus at the University of Bristol, chief science adviser to the Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd, and president of the Institute of Physics. His current research is into levitation in high-temperature liquids and into non-invasive methods of measuring glucose levels in humans. He is chairman of Melys Diagnostics Ltd, a company developing this technology.
Prof Barrie Walsham Bycroft is an emeritus professor at the University of Nottingham. He is a former professor of pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry at the school of pharmaceutical sciences in the same university. He has published more than 200 original papers, review articles and patents that link the biological and molecular sciences. He has served on numerous UK and international bodies. He is a member of the scientific committee and chair of the new targets committee of the Cancer Research Campaign.
Prof Eigil Praestgaard is professor of theoretical and physical chemistry at the Institute for Life Sciences and Chemistry at Roskilde University, Denmark. He has served as the chair of the Danish Natural Science Research Council, was a member of the Danish Council for Research Policy and was also on the board of the European Science Foundation.
Prof Dr Günther K Bonn is chairman of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry at the University of Innsbruck. He is an expert in analytical chemistry and has also lectured at the University of Linz.