Alan Cuthbert made significant contributions to our knowledge of the physiology and pharmacology of sodium transport in secretory epithelia. His early research mainly concerned the electrical and mechanical properties of various types of smooth muscle. This led him to an examination of the electrical behaviour of secretory epithelia, and of the action of drugs on ion transport mechanisms.
He introduced and refined the technique for measuring the number of sodium transport sites with the aid of radioactively labelled amiloride and derivatives such as benzamil, and has made important studies on the mechanism of binding blocking agents and on the control of sodium transport.
Later, Alan turned his attention to chloride channels in epithelia, with many studies related to cystic fibrosis. He was the Shield Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge from 1979 to 1999 and was awarded the Wellcome Gold Medal in 2005. He served as President of the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR) from 2000 to 2002.
Professor Alan Cuthbert FMedSci FRS died on 27 August 2016.
Biographical Memoir
Subject groups
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Multicellular Organisms
Pharmacology (non-clinical), Animal (especially mammalian) and human physiology and anatomy (non-clinical)
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Chemistry
Chemistry, organic
