Garret A. FitzGerald

Garret Adare FitzGerald FRS MRIA is an Irish physician. He is professor of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics and chair of the department of pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He researches aspects of cardiology, pharmacology, translational medicine, and chronobiology.[4]

For other people named Garret FitzGerald, see Garret FitzGerald (disambiguation).
Garret FitzGerald

FRS MRIA
Born
Garret Adare FitzGerald

(1950-05-11) May 11, 1950
Greystones, County Wicklow[1]
NationalityRepublic of Ireland
EducationBelvedere College[2]
Alma materUniversity College, Dublin (MB BCh, MD)
University of London (MSc)[3]
AwardsCameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (2007)
Scientific career
FieldsCircadian rhythms
Cardiology
Vascular biology
Molecular clocks
Pharmacology[4]
InstitutionsVanderbilt University (1980-1991)
University College, Dublin(1991-1994)
University of Pennsylvania (1994-)
Websitewww.med.upenn.edu/fitzgeraldlab/personnel.html

Early life

FitzGerald was born in Greystones, County Wicklow, on 11 May 1950.[1] He grew up in Dublin,[3] acquiring an unabated passion for rugby.[5]

Education

FitzGerald attended Belvedere College, a Jesuit school for boys in Dublin.[2] Influenced by his grandfather, who had been a professor of Greek, he studied five languages at school including Greek and Latin.[1] While completing his medical studies at University College, Dublin (UCD; MB BCh, MD), he acquired a master's degree in statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.[3]

FitzGerald attributes his career in medicine to "a series of accidents".[1] During his final examinations at UCD he was required to dissect the mouthparts of a cockroach. Peering through a microscope, FitzGerald discovered that he had lost one of the main pieces. Disaster seemed certain as he searched the floor on his hands and knees. The exam procter came to help and eventually emerged with the tiny fragment stuck to her thumb. FitzGerald has stated that without her intervention he would never have become a physician.[3]

Career

After completing his clinical training, FitzGerald took a research position at Vanderbilt University in 1980. He returned to Ireland in 1991 before relocating to the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 as the founding director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics (CET). He became chair of pharmacology in 1996.[5] The CET evolved into the Institute of Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) in 2004.

His commitment to public service was demonstrated by his long tenure as a member of the Science Board to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[6]

FitzGerald's work contributed substantially to the development of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes.[3] FitzGerald's lab was the first to predict and then mechanistically explain the cardiovascular hazard from Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a common class of painkiller.[7] His work showing that selective COX-2 inhibitors depress the production of prostacyclin in the endothelium, thereby increasing cardiovascular risk,[8] was instrumental in the withdrawal of Vioxx (rofecoxib) from the U.S. market in 2004.[3][9]

Honours and awards

FitzGerald is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society, the Accademia dei Lincei and the Leopoldina, and an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy.

References
  1. Farley, Adam (6 May 2017). "Dr. Garret FitzGerald Wants to Build Bridges". Irish America (August/September 2014). Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  2. Anon (2017). "FitzGerald, Prof. Garret Adare". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U281224. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
  3. Landau, Elizabeth (21 June 2013). "Doctor is pain medicine 'visionary'". CNN. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  4. Garret A. FitzGerald publications indexed by Google Scholar
  5. Conner, Kristine. "A man of many parts". Penn Medicine (Spring 2001). pp. 6–11. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. "FDA Science Board Members". US Food and Drug Administration. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  7. "The FitzGerald Lab - Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania". Personnel. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  8. Grosser, Tilo; Fries, Susanne; FitzGerald, Garret A. (8 December 2005). "Biological basis for the cardiovascular consequences of COX-2 inhibition: therapeutic challenges and opportunities". Journal of Clinical Investigation. American Society for Clinical Investigation. 116 (1): 4–15. doi:10.1172/jci27291. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 1323269.
  9. "Dubliner receives Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence". The Irish Times. 20 October 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  10. "Previous Recipients". Robarts Research. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  11. "Jakob-Herz-Preis 2011" (PDF) (in German). Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlang-Nürnberg. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. Anon (2012). "Garret FitzGerald". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  13. Genest, Jacques; Hébert, Terence E.; Martin, James (13 October 2016). "The Louis and Artur Lucian Award in Cardiovascular Diseases at McGill University". Circulation Research. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). 119 (9): 975–977. doi:10.1161/circresaha.116.309972. ISSN 0009-7330.
  14. "Former Laureates". Apotekarsocieteten. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. "The Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences". Ohio State Heart and Vascular Research. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  16. "Penn Medicines Garret FitzGerald MD FRS Elected to the German National Academy of Sciences – PR News". Penn Medicine. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.

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