Professor Louis J. Ignarro is a leading specialist in Pharmacology and Toxicology. He was one of three American pharmacologists whose research led to the discovery that nitric oxide is used as a unique signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system. The discovery has led to the development of new medical treatments. For this discovery, he won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with colleagues Robert Furchgott and Ferid Murad.

He is currently the Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He has received numerous awards i.e. ten Golden Apple Awards at UCLA, Merck Research Award 1974, U.S.P.H.S. Career Development Award 1975-80, Edward G Schlieder Foundation Award 1973-1976, and the Lilly Research Award 1978. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.