Ferid Murad

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, 1998
Whiting, Ind.

Ferid Murad (1936 - 2023) was born in Whiting, Ind. to an Albanian immigrant restaurateur known as John Murad, and Henrietta Bowman. It was in the restaurant that young Ferid showed early promise. He completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry at DePauw University. He then enrolled in Case Western University's new experimental MD-Ph.D. program.

After graduating and completing a post-doctoral program, he worked in various capacities becoming a senior scientist for Abbott Laboratories and Chairman of the University of Texas-Houston Department of Science, Integrative Biology, Pharmacology and Physiology. He along with Robert F. Furchgott and Louis J. Arraign are known for demonstrating that nitroglycerin and related drugs work by releasing nitric oxide into the bloodstream. All three were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1998. Dr. Murad and others found that the release of this gaseous nitric oxide acts as a signaling device to various vascular systems such as the cardiovascular system and the reproductive system. This finding led to the development by others of the innovative drug Viagra and other male pharmacological products.

Dr. Murad was a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Nobel Prize recipients were nominated by James Flannery and Steve Dunphy, Ph.D.