Trust researchers honoured in Gairdner Awards
7 April 2010
Professor Nick White, Chairman of the Wellcome Trust South-east Asian Tropical Medicine Research Programmes, was awarded the prize for leading the research that proved that artemisinin is a highly effective treatment for malaria.
The compound, derived from a plant used for over a thousand years in Chinese medicine, is the single most effective and fastest-acting treatment for malaria ever identified and also effectively reduces disease transmission.
Professor Peter Ratcliffe, Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford, receives his award for identifying how cells in the body monitor and respond to oxygen levels.
At a cellular level, oxygen plays a role in a huge range of diseases, from heart disease to cancer. Professor Ratcliffe's research paves the way to therapies that manipulate oxygen, such as improving the supply of oxygen in people with diseases of the heart and circulation. Professor Ratcliffe, who has been funded by the Trust for over 20 years, was previously awarded the 2009 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine.
The Canada Gairdner Awards were created in 1959 to recognize and reward the achievements of medical researchers whose work contributes significantly to improving the quality of human life. The awards, which come with a $100 000 cash prize, will be presented to the recipients in October.
Image: Professor Nicholas White; Wellcome Library, London
