Robarts announces 2009 Taylor Prize recipient

First awarded in 1985 to Dr. Jean F. Borel for his discovery that cyclosporin can prevent and treat organ rejection in transplant patients, the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine annually recognizes the world's leading medical researchers. Proudly supported by Robarts Research Institute and The C. H. Stiller Memorial Foundation, the $10,000 prize honours the late J. Allyn Taylor, who was Robarts' founding chair, an Officer of The Order of Canada, a widely-respected Canadian business leader and close personal friend of the Stiller family.

The prize has celebrated numerous exceptional scientists who have contributed to the advancement of medical discovery in the areas of Robarts' research platforms, including Robarts' founding scientific director Dr. Henry Barnett, who discovered aspirin could be taken as a preventative therapy for heart attack and stroke, and Dr. Craig Venter, who was instrumental in mapping the human genome.

The recipient of this year's Taylor Prize has made outstanding contributions in the field of cardiovascular research.

Dr. Garret FitzGerald is the McNeil Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he chairs the Department of Pharmacology and directs the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. His work contributed substantially to the development of low dose aspirin for the prevention of heart disease and was the first to predict and explain the cardiovascular hazard from nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Dr. FitzGerald will deliver an address at a "Celebration of Science" dinner on Wednesday, November 4 at The Great Hall at Western. The evening is hosted by Western alumna and CTV News medical specialist Avis Favaro. The dinner follows the Taylor Prize Symposium the same day, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Auditorium A, London Health Sciences Centre, where Dr. FitzGerald will also speak. For more information, please contact Linda Chapman at 519-931-5205 or lchapman@robarts.ca.