21.07.10

Zahra Ali and Sagar Arvind Pala, two students from The School of Pharmacy, have won a Physiological Society Undergraduate Prize.  All supervisors within the School’s pharmacology department were invited to nominate an undergraduate who had produced an outstanding project in physiology. Zahra and Sagar were jointly nominated for their novel work on the effects of prostacyclin on pulmonary arteries in Dr Rebecca Lever’s laboratory. They were chosen by Dr Mala Shah, the Physiological Society Representative at the School of Pharmacy, to be considered for the prize.

Prostacyclin is an eicosanoid mediator that encourages the dilation of blood vessels. Synthetic forms are used in the management of pulmonary hypertension; an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary circulation which can lead to shortness of breath, dizziness and fainting and heart failure. Zahra investigated a suggested synergistic effect between prostacyclin and sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra which has also been introduced for the management of pulmonary hypertension in recent years). Sagar Arvind Pala’s project involved the examination of agents that widen blood vessels through the donation of nitric oxide. The findings from their individual research projects, which demonstrated an unexpected effect of prostacyclin, led to a collaboration and their joint nomination.

Dr Lever commented:

“The quality of data generated, enthusiasm of both these students for their work and the way in which they collaborated, despite their projects being quite unrelated at face-value, makes them worthy in my view of joint nomination for this award”

The students will be awarded a prize of £100, receive a certificate of achievement and be eligible to apply for one year's free membership to The Society.

The Physiological Society was founded in 1876 and is a learned society with over 2,900 Members (including 21 Nobel Laureates) and Affiliates drawn from over 60 countries. The Society's objectives are to 'promote, for the benefit of the public, the advancement of physiology, and facilitate the intercourse of physiologists both at home and abroad, and thereby contribute to the progress and understanding of biomedical and related sciences and the detection, prevention and treatment of disease, disability and malfunction of physical processes in all forms of life'.