Busija honored with prestigious award by the American Physiological Society

David Busija, Ph.D., Regents Endowed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine, was awarded the prestigious Carl J. Wiggers Award by the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society (APS) at  Experimental Biology 2022 (EB2022) in Philadelphia, PA. The award was presented on April 5, 2022 after his oral presentation, “Sex and Aging in the Brain Microcirculation,” where he also served as Chair of the Wiggers Award Featured Topic Section. The Wiggers Award is presented each year to a scientist who is a Fellow of the Cardiovascular Section of the APS, who has made outstanding contributions to cardiovascular research throughout their career, has been an active and committed member of the Cardiovascular Section, and who will attract outstanding new members to the section from the United States and abroad. Thus, this honor is awarded to distinguished leaders who have demonstrated excellence in science and have made significant contributions to physiological sciences and related disciplines. During his presentation at EB2022 Busija highlighted his previous and current trainee contributions to his research program. One of Dr. Busija’s proudest accomplishments has been observing his students, trainees, and numerous Ph.D. fellows flourish in their careers.

The Carl J. Wiggers Award was established in honor of the APS Cardiovascular Section founder, Carl J. Wiggers (1883-1963), whose research defined fundamental pressure-flow relationships in the cardiovascular system. In addition to publishing definitive texts in circulatory physiology, Dr. Wiggers founded the journal Circulation Research and trained numerous future departmental heads as well as several presidents of the APS.

Dr. Busija has been Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at Tulane for 11 years, has published over 300 papers on diverse topics related to physiological control of the cerebral vasculature, and has recently pioneered studies of mitochondrial dynamics in the brain and brain circulation. Busija has had continuous independent funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1983, has published extensively in APS and other journals and has served as a permanent member of two NIH study sections. In addition, Dr. Busija was recently elected to Fellow status of the APS, appointed as a member of the APS Finance Committee, and reappointed to another term as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of American Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology.