Victor Darley-Usmar, Ph.D., a professor in the UAB Department of Pathology, has received the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine (SFRBM).
Darley-Usmar, who also directs the UAB Center for Free Radical Biology, was recognized for his contributions to the understanding of the role played by free radicals in disease. The highly reactive molecules are necessary for human life, but when unbalanced by disease they can damage delicate cellular components like DNA.
Darley-Usmar’s insights into how specific free radical classes promote cell signaling, particularly as part of interactions between oxygen and lipids, has been important to the study of cardiovascular disease processes. His current work is focused on translating a new understanding of bioenergetics into treatments for diseases related to energy imbalance.
Darley-Usmar gave a lecture on Nov. 16, 2012, at SFRBM’s annual meeting in San Diego titled “Translational Bioenergetics and Redox Biology: Early Beginnings and Future Prospects.” He also was named co-editor in chief of the newly created online journal Redox Biology.