Salvador Moncada

He was previously married to Dorys Lemus, a biochemistry teacher at the Medical School in El Salvador. The couple had two children together, Claudia Regina and Salvador Ernesto.

In 1998, Salvador Moncada married HRH Princess Esmeralda of Belgium, the youngest half-sister of King Albert II of the Belgians. They are blessed with two children, Alexandra Leopoldine and Leopoldo Daniel.

Salvador Moncada was born on December 3, 1944, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to Salvador Moncada and his wife, Jenny Seidner. The family moved to El Salvador in 1948.

From 1962 to 1970, Salvador Moncada studied medicine at the Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de El Salvador.

In 1971, he traveled to London to work on his doctorate with John Vane in the Department of Pharmacology at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons.

After conducting research for a brief period at the University of Honduras, he was appointed the Head of the Division of Therapeutic Research at Wellcome Research Laboratories in 1985.

In 1986, he became the Head of UK Research in the Wellcome Pharmaceutical Company and later served as its Director of Research.

Over the next ten years, under his direction the company developed drugs for the treatment of epilepsy, migraine and malaria.

In 1996, he moved to University College London where he set up the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research in the Cruciform Building. He served as its director until 2012.

His later work focused on the areas of mitochondrial biology and cell metabolism. It led to the discovery of the molecular mechanism that coordinates cell proliferation with the provision of metabolic substrates required for this process.

In 1975, he led the team that discovered the enzyme thromboxane synthase and the vasodilator prostacyclin. This work contributed to the understanding of how low doses of aspirin prevent cardiovascular episodes such as myocardial infarction and stroke.

While serving as the Director of Research at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, he presided over the discovery and development of lamotrigine, atovaquone, and zomig. He also initiated the work that resulted in the development of lapatinib for the treatment of breast cancer.