UCLA PRIDE GLOWS FOR WINNER OF NOBEL PRIZE.Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer How do you welcome home a Nobel Prize Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. winner, UCLA-style? With the marching band and Bruin Bear, of course. A crowd of several hundred students and faculty members gathered on the lawn at UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. on Friday for a celebration in honor of 1998 Nobel Prize winner Louis J. Ignarro. The crowd cheered so loudly for the university's most famous pharmacologist that it would have made the Bruins football team envious. ``We are are enormously grateful to you, Louis,'' said University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , Chancellor Albert Carnesale to thunderous applause from the audience. Ignarro, 57, of Malibu, is one of three American scientists awarded a 1998 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering that nitric oxide nitric oxide or nitrogen monoxide, a colorless gas formed by the combustion of nitrogen and oxygen as given by the reaction: energy + N2 + O2 → 2NO; m.p. −163.6°C;; b.p. −151.8°C;. , a common gas, transmits signals in the body. Among other things, Ignarro's research led to the development of the anti-impotence drug Viagra. It also is expected to stimulate the development of new drugs for heart disease and cancer. ``We have to take advantage of this great moment to continue to conquer cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease Disease that affects the heart and blood vessels. Mentioned in: Lipoproteins Test cardiovascular disease ,'' Ignarro said in a brief speech. Afterward, he posed for photographs with students and faculty. Nitric oxide plays several important roles in the body, regulating blood pressure, preventing blood clots Blood Clots Definition A blood clot is a thickened mass in the blood formed by tiny substances called platelets. Clots form to stop bleeding, such as at the site of cut. , and killing invading or cancerous cells. Ignarro, who received word of the award while en route from France and Italy, where he was lecturing at a scientific conference, isn't just any old Nobel Prize winner, said students and faculty. The professor of pharmacology has won the school's Golden Apple Award, given by medical students to their favorite professor, 10 times since he joined the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX faculty in 1985. ``When someone you care about wins a Nobel Prize, you feel as if you've won a part of it, too,'' said Samir Sodha, a second-year medical student. Not only is Ignarro a great teacher, but he's a heck of a nice guy, according to those who know him. ``He cares not only about his research, but he makes sure that everybody understands,'' said Michelle Holmes, a graduate student in pharmacology. Ignarro's Nobel Prize is the first won by a UCLA researcher in the physiology or medicine category and the fifth for the university overall, Carnesale said. Researchers and faculty from the entire University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). system have won a total of 33 Nobel Prizes, more than any other public university system, he said. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO UCLA professor Louis J. Ignarro enjoys a toast in his honor Friday on the UCLA Medical Center lawn for winning the 1998 Nobel Prize in the physiology or medicine category. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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