Sir James Whyte Black, OM, FRS, FRSE, FRCP (born 14 July 1924) is a Scottish pharmacologist who invented Propranolol synthesized Cimetidine [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/8325/8325tagamet.html and received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for these landmark discoveries.

Black was educated at Beath High School, Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland, and the University of St Andrews, Fife, where he studied medicine, spending time in Dundee (where all the clinical medical activity of St Andrews' University took place until 1967). He then lectured at the University of Malaya, University of Glasgow (Veterinary School), and became a professor at University College London and at King's College London. In addition to his 1988 Nobel Prize he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1976 the same year he was awarded the Lasker award, which is often called "America`s Nobel"^*. He was also created a Knight Bachelor in 1981.

In 2000 Sir James was appointed to the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II. The order is limited to only 24 persons and is the highest honour the monarch can bestow.

Sir James Black contributed to basic scientific and clinical knowledge in cardiology, both as a physician and as a basic scientist. His invention of propranolol the beta adrenergic receptor antagonist that revolutionized the medical management of angina pectoris, is considered to be one of the most important contributions to clinical medicine and pharmacology of the 20th century. His method of research, his discoveries about adrenergic pharmacology, and his clarification of the mechanisms of cardiac action are all strengths of his work.

Sir James is the Chancellor of the University of Dundee.

See also

• George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion - The other recipients of the 1988 Nobel prize in Medicine

External link

• Or is this our national hero? Scottish Sunday Herald article

References

• Nobel e-Museum autobiography
• Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winners | Scottish pharmacologists | Scottish biologists | Scottish inventors | Scottish doctors | Scottish Nobel laureates | Cardiologists | Fellows of the Royal Society | Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | Members of the Order of Merit | Knights Bachelor | Natives of Fife | University of Dundee | University of Glasgow academics | University of St Andrews alumni | University of Dundee alumni | Academics of King's College London | UCL academics | 1924 births | Living people

James Whyte Black | James Whyte Black | ジェームス・ブラック | James Whyte Black | Блэк, Джеймс Уайт | Sir James W Black