U of A cardiologist wins award for excellence in pharmaceutical research
Written By: Michael Robb
2004-10-26
; "Dr. Paul Armstrong")
Dr. Paul Armstrong, a professor of medicine at the University of Alberta and senior cardiologist at the University Hospital has been awarded the Prix Galien Canada award of excellence for his outstanding contributions to Canadian pharmaceutical research.The annual prize was first awarded in France and later introduced in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. Armstrong received the award earlier this month at a ceremony in Montreal.
“I was pleased that some friends and my wife were present to share the occasion,” Armstrong said. “It’s always more meaningful when that happens.”
Armstrong, one of Canada’s foremost cardiology researchers, is known around the world for his pioneering trials of new drugs to treat heart attacks and developing the latest standards and guidelines for the care of heart attack patients and people who suffer from congestive heart failure.
Much of his work has been carried out as director of the Canadian node of the Virtual Coordinating Centre for Global Collaborative Cardiovascular Research (VIGOUR) Centre, an international consortium of cardiovascular researchers and clinicians who have been in the forefront in diagnosing, treating and establishing new standards of care that are currently applied for treating patients who suffer with heart disease.
Some of his other career highlights include:
• Establishing cardiovascular clinical trials of acute coronary syndromes in Canada and becoming a global leader in systematically evaluating the best conjunctive and adjunctive therapy in association with fibrinolysis;
• Establishing a variety of drugs as the standard of care in enhancing survival of patients with acute myocardial infarction;
• Introducing recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, the clot -busting treatment for heart attack, to Canada and developing dose-finding studies that formed the basis of future research;
• Developing the international VIGOUR group in collaboration with selected others and creating the Canadian VIGOUR Centre, the most prominent and productive Canadian cardiovascular academic research organization in existence, spanning all provinces and regions of the country and over 150 hospitals and health centres;
• Developing diagnostic markers early in the evolution of acute coronary syndromes to provide prognostic value relevant to the therapeutic choices and triage of such patients;
• Evaluating conjunctive therapy with anti-thrombotic agents to enhance and sustain pharmacologic restoration of blood flow in acute myocardial infarction.
Armstrong has published prolifically over the course of his career in the top scientific journals and has been a frequent editor on others.
Armstrong is also an outstanding teacher. Recently, he pioneered an innovative Canadian Institutes of Health Research strategic research training program in cardiovascular diseases at the universities of Alberta and Calgary to train the next generation of cardiovascular researchers. He is an integral player in Edmonton’s cardiovascular research community, upon which the Alberta Heart Institute, expected to open in 2005/06, is being constructed.
“It’s pretty gratifying to be recognized, but also a time to reflect that these awards represent not only a sustained amount of work over time, but also the importance of collaboration,” Armstrong said. “I’ve been privileged to work in three universities and am in my fourth career, so I think this is an opportunity to acknowledge the people – the colleagues, the support staff, the nurses and technologists, but also one has to reflect on the thousands of patients I’ve cared for with heart disease over the years and how many of them have been willing volunteers as relates to teaching and research. They’re the heroes of it.”
This is not the first time a U of A professor has received the Prix Galien. In 1998, former dean Dr. Lorne Tyrrell shared the Prix Galien with Dr. Morris Robins, for their work on developing an effective anti-viral compound for Hepatitis B.
This article originally appeared in Express News.