Alumni Profile: Louis J. Ignarro

Louis J. Ignarro (BS Pharmacy, 1962) is one of three pharmacologists (along with R. Furchgott and F. Murad) who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. https://nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1998/ignarro/press-release/

They proved that nitric oxide (NO) was rapidly produced in the innermost layer of blood vessels causing dilation. This discovery explained how nitroglycerin worked for angina, regulating blood pressure.  It also allowed for the development of new medications to treat heart and cardiovascular diseases and impotence. https://nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1998/ignarro/lecture/

Louis J. Ignarro shaking hands with the King of Sweden

Lou has been referred to as the “Father of Viagra” since Sildenafil (Viagra® by Pfizer) is a drug that increases the amount and duration of NO in blood vessels by preventing its breakdown.

Lou was born in Brooklyn. He had been interested in chemistry since he received his first chemistry set when he was eight years old.

During his years at Columbia University College of Pharmacy (CUCP), he commuted daily on the Long Island Rail Road from Long Beach with his classmate, Marty Infeld. He stated, “CUCP had a profound influence on my career. All of the science courses convinced me that I had to get into a basic research career in chemical pharmacology, which is exactly what I did. My favorite courses were Quantitative Analysis and Organic/Medicinal Chemistry … a Pharmacology course…really caught my attention.”

Upon graduation, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy in pharmacology, after which he accepted a two-year post-doctoral position at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He then proceeded through research positions at Geigy Pharmaceuticals, and then Tulane University. He finally moved to UCLA School of Medicine for both research and teaching from 1985 until his retirement in 2014.

Lou is pleased that pharmacists are recognized and utilized as front-line public health practitioners, administering vaccines during yearly flu seasons and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lou is still active, giving lectures (typically humorous - search YouTube), organizing conferences, Zoom calls, television interviews, serving on editorial boards, as well as on the board of directors for two companies. His hobbies include model railroading and cycling outdoors in the hills.

The CUCP ’62 alumni have often held reunions. Lou’s fondest memories are of his “super fantastic” classmates. He keeps in touch on a regular basis with classmates including Marty Infeld (former Director of Research, Roche) and Harold Selden, MD (Mailman Alumni Association Board member).

Other Notables from the Class of ’62:

  • Stuart Feldman, PhD (Professor Emeritus HP&M, College of Public Health, UGA; founding Dean, Touro College of Pharmacy, NY, NY)
  • Paula Bursztyn Goldberg, PhD (graduate student of Nobel co-awardee Dr. Furchgott-research cited in Nobel Lecture, co-author CRC Handbook on Pharmacology of Aging, research Smith, Kline & French)
  • Edward M. Feldman, DO (Congressional Medal of Honor Nominee, d. 2017)

Columbia University College of Pharmacy

The 1962 Apothekan Yearbook has my nomination for Most Original Yearbook Cover Artwork, which has an impressionist rendering of the Columbia University College of Pharmacy.

Notables from other classes:

  • Augustus Gomez, BS in pharmacy, ’33 (Maternal grandfather of Former Mailman Alumni Association Board President, Carlos Cuevas, MPH/MPA ’12)
  • Stephen Fauci, BS in pharmacy, ’31 (Father of Dr. Anthony Fauci)

– Ted Nappi BS, PharmMD ’76