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The Physiological Society President and Head of DPAG Professor David Paterson presented the 2022 Presidential Medal to Sir Patrick Vallance at a ceremony at the Royal Society on 2 December.

© The Physiological Society

Sir Patrick Vallance FRS FMedSci FRCP, Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) and National Technology Adviser (NTA), delivered The Physiological Society's 2022 President’s Lecture on Friday 2 December 2022. This was followed by the presentation of the 2022 Presidential Medal. The Presidential Medal and President’s Lecture is The Society’s most prestigious award, recognising a leader in the sector.

Prior to his roles at the GCSA and NTA, Sir Patrick was President, R&D at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from 2012 until 2017. Under his leadership, new medicines for cancer, asthma, autoimmune diseases and HIV infection were discovered and approved for use worldwide. He has championed open innovation and novel industry-academic partnerships globally, and has maintained a strong focus on discovery of antibiotics and medicines for tropical diseases. His personal research was in the field of vascular biology. He made important discoveries in the field of nitric oxide and endothelial cell physiology and showed that the human arterial vasculature is actively dilated by continuous release of nitric oxide. He demonstrated the functional significance of this effect in different physiological and disease states and identified new pathways for regulating nitric oxide biosynthesis. He was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999, to the Royal Society in 2017, and became an Honorary Member of The Physiological Society in 2020.

The award to Sir Patrick concludes the term of Professor David Paterson as President of The Physiological Society 2020-22.

Professor Paterson said: "Sir Patrick is one of the UK’s most well-known and respected scientists. We were delighted when he became an Honorary Fellow a few years ago and are proud he delivered our 2022 President’s Lecture.

"Sir Patrick spearheaded the UK’s response to the pandemic and has a distinguished career within government, industry and research. This award recognises his enormous contribution to science and the health of people in the UK and across the world."