Professor and Honduran-British pharmacologist Salvador Moncada has made groundbreaking contributions to the discovery and creation of novel medicines. His discoveries caused great enthusiasm in the scientific community, and throughout the 1990s, he was one of the most often cited scientists in the world. He was raised in Honduras and later served as the Research Director of the Wellcome Research Laboratories after completing his doctoral studies in medicine. While holding the position, he started numerous investigations into potential treatments for a number of infectious diseases, but most significantly, he oversaw the research group studying prostaglandins. Later, he established and directed the UCL Wolfson Institute at University College London for more than ten years. In his later work, he concentrated more on topics including cell proliferation control, vascular biology, and inflammation. He has received multiple honorary doctorates from renowned universities all around the world. He is the owner of five drug-related patents and is also involved in 400 or so scholarly articles as an author, contributor, or manager. He is one of the 20th century’s most well-known pharmacologists.
Early Childhood & Life
On December 3, 1944, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Salvador Moncada was born to Salvador Moncada and his wife, Jenny Seidner. In 1948, the family relocated to El Salvador.
Salvador Moncada studied medicine at the Universidad de El Salvador’s Facultad de Medicina from 1962 to 1970.
He went to London in 1971 to work on his Ph.D. with John Vane at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons, in the Department of Pharmacology.
Salvador Mncada’s Career
He briefly conducted research at the University of Honduras before being named the head of the Therapeutic Research Division at Wellcome Research Laboratories in 1985.
He joined the Wellcome Pharmaceutical Company in 1986 as Head of UK Research and eventually held the position of Director of Research.
He oversaw the company’s development of medications for the treatment of epilepsy, migraines, and malaria over the course of the following ten years.
In the Cruciform Building of University College London, where he established the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research in 1996, he relocated. Until 2012, he was its director.
His later research concentrated on cell metabolism and mitochondrial biology. It resulted in the identification of the molecular mechanism that controls the supply of the necessary metabolic substrates for cell proliferation.
Additionally, he has served as a consultant to the Panamerican Health Organization. More recently, he established “Honduras Global,” an international network of professionals dedicated to assisting Honduras’ development.
Many colleges around the world, including those in Europe, the United States, Latin America, and Japan, have hosted Salvador Moncada as a visiting professor. He currently serves as the Director of the University of Manchester’s Institute of Cancer Sciences.
Salvador’s Bigger Works
He oversaw the team that found the vasodilator prostacyclin and the enzyme thromboxane synthase in 1975. This research helped to advance our understanding of how aspirin in low dosages prevents cardiovascular events like myocardial infarction and stroke.
He oversaw the discovery and development of lamotrigine, atovaquone, and Zomig while working as the Director of Research at the Wellcome Research Laboratories. Lapatinib, a drug used to treat breast cancer, was developed as a result of studies he also started.
Recognition & Achievements
Salvador Moncada shared the 1990 “Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research” honor.
As a “Fellow of the Royal Society,” “Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London,” “Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,” and “Honorary Fellow of University College, London,” he sits on the board of several worldwide scientific organizations.
He has received a number of honorary doctorates from major universities throughout the world, including the University Pierre & Marie Curie’s “Degree of Doctor “Honoris Causa” (1997) and the University of Edinburgh’s “Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science” (2000).
He received “The Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK” in 2000.
He received a Knighthood in 2010 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science.
He received the “Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine” in 2011 from the University of Debrecen in Hungary.
He was awarded the esteemed “Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine” in 2013. In addition, he has received numerous additional scientific honors, including the “Amsterdam Prize for Medicine.”
Personal Legacy & Life
Dorys Lemus, a biochemistry instructor at the Medical School in El Salvador, was his first wife. Salvador Ernesto and Claudia Regina were the couple’s children.
Salvador Moncada wed HRH Princess Esmeralda of Belgium 1998, the youngest half-sister of Belgian King Albert II. Alexandra Leopoldine and Leopoldo Daniel are their two blessings.
Estimated Net Worth
Salvador is one of the wealthiest and most well-known pharmacologists. According to our research, Salvador Moncada has a net worth of $5 million, as reported by Forbes, Wikipedia, and Business Insider.