Prof. Peter Nwangwu named best alumnus of Univ Nebraska
A NIGERIAN Professor, Peter Nwangwu, has emerged as the 2008 Outstanding International Alumnus of the University of Nebraska, United States (U.S.).
A statement from the University indicates that only one person in the world is selected for the award once a year. The University of Nebraska, founded in 1869, has four campuses with 46,100 students. The Outstanding international Alumnus award was established in 2006 for Nebraska alumni who have attained national and international prominence through their efforts in education, science, technology, agriculture, the arts, business, humanities, government or other world endeavours.
Nwangwu is the second person to receive the award since it was established at the university. A professor of pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical pharmacy at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nwangwu is also the Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor and Chief Development Officer.
Nwangwu, a 1974 alumnus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is widely regarded as one of the top 10 most educated pharmacists/ pharmacologists in the world. He invented a screening methodology for anti-arrhythmic drugs. The invention, which can identify drugs that can cure irregular heartbeat, was created by Nwangwu in 1976.
In 1981, Nwangwu also invented a methodology for identifying myocardial infarction, also known as heart attack. Both methodologies are being used across the world. Nwangwu has also invented seven drugs used for correcting irregular heartbeats, which are patented in the United States. In addition, Nwangwu is the first scientist in the world to document and publish in vivo murine ventricular tachycardia in a single surface electrocardiogram lead.
Scientists around the world, including researchers at Harvard Medical School, quote Nwangwu in their research publications in this area of medical research. His book, Concepts and Strategies in New Drug Development, is used widely as a training and reference text in the major pharmaceutical industries of the world and as a textbook in many postgraduate clinical pharmacology training programmes in the U.S. and European universities. The publishers of the book, Praeger Publishers, New York, described it as their bestseller on the subject in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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