UB Pharmacy Dean is Awarded Top Pharmacology Honor

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- David J. Triggle, Ph.D., dean of the School of Pharmacy and SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University at Buffalo, has been awarded the Otto Krayer Award in Pharmacology by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

One of the most prestigious awards in the field, it recognizes a distinguished and mature investigator whose research over many years has contributed significantly to a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of drugs or other chemicals. The award is supported by Zeneca Pharmaceuticals Group.

Triggle's internationally recognized research focuses on how drugs interact with calcium channels -- cellular mechanisms that regulate the entry of calcium when cells are stimulated. He has conducted pioneering research into the action of calcium-channel antagonists in the cardiovascular system, and studied calcium channels and aging.

A member of the UB faculty in the Department of Biochemical Pharmacology since 1962, Triggle was chair of the department from 1971-85. He has served as dean of the School of Pharmacy since 1985.

A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and chair of its Pharmaceutical Sciences Section, Triggle is a member of numerous professional societies. He serves on many editorial boards, including those of the Journal of Molecular Pharmacology, Chirality and the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Co-editor of Drug Development Research, he recently started his own trade magazine, Pharmaceutical News, of which he is also editor.

The author of more than 200 scientific papers and co-author or author of nine books, he has given more than 200 scientific presentations and has chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Medicinal Chemistry.

Among his numerous honors, Triggle has received the Volwiler Research Achievement Award of the American Association of the College of Pharmacy, the Educational Citation of Honor Award from the National Columbus Day Committee and the George F. Koepf Award for Advancement of Biomedical Research from the Hauptmann-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Inc.

He has been cited by the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation for his extensive work on behalf of the Special Olympics.

In addition to his research, Triggle is an innovative educator, having developed, with members of the UB Department of Philosophy, the university's first course in scientific ethics.

He earned his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Hull and graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Southampton. He has held post-doctoral fellowships at the universities of London and Ottawa, and was a visiting professor at the University of Leeds.

Triggle lives in Clarence.