Professor Arthur Christopoulos FAA FAHMS, the Dean of Monash University’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has become the first Australian to receive the prestigious American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) 2024 Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman Award in Receptor Pharmacology presented biennially at the award ceremony during the ASPET Annual Meeting.
The ASPET Goodman and Gilman Award, established in 1980, recognises outstanding research in the pharmacology of biological receptors.
Prof. Christopoulos’ groundbreaking work as a pharmacist and molecular pharmacologist has earned him global recognition for his pioneering discoveries of novel drug binding sites on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest class of medicinal protein targets.
His research has led to the identification, quantification, and translation of novel first-in-class allosteric modulators and biased agonists for numerous health burdens, revolutionising GPCR medicine discovery in academia and industry.
In addition to being named one of the world’s most influential academics in Pharmacology and Toxicology by Clarivate for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, Christopoulos was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2021. He also co-founded Septerna Inc., a novel GPCR biotechnology company, in 2022 with Monash University collaborator Professor Patrick Sexton and Nobel Laureate Prof. Robert J. Lefkowitz (Duke University).
The Greek Australian scientist played a key role in Monash University’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences becoming ranked number one globally in the 2022 QS World University Rankings by Subject for Pharmacy and Pharmacology. In 2021, he established the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre to stimulate research into mental health conditions.
“It truly is an honour to receive this award and to be recognized among those who have received it since its establishment in 1980, all of whom I greatly admire,” said Prof. Christopoulos.
“I’m humbled to be joining the list of other researchers selected by ASPET over the decades to receive this accolade, each in their own way having made truly significant contributions in the field of pharmacology.”
In 2013, he was also the first Australian to receive ASPET’s John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology, recognising his fundamental research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics by early-to-mid career investigators.
