The Anitschkow Prize in Atherosclerosis Research, 2011

Professor Philip Barter

Director of The Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia

The EAS is delighted to announce that the recipient of the Society's prestigious Anitschkow Award 2011 was Professor Philip Barter, Director of The Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia.
Presentation of the Award and the Anitschkow Medal took place at the Opening Ceremony of the 79th EAS Congress, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 26-29, 2011, where Professor Barter presented the Anitschkow Lecture. To see the Anitschkow Lecture, please go to EAS 2011 Webcasts.

Professor Barter has a longstanding research interest in the diagnosis, pathogenesis and therapy of risk factors of atherosclerosis. By combining basic and clinical research he is an excellent example of a from-bench-to-bedside researcher. Since the 1970s he and his coworkers have repeatedly made pivotal and pioneering contributions to better understand the metabolism and function of plasma lipoproteins, notably HDL. His more than 250 original publications and more than 50 review papers have been cited almost 15000 times, placing him in the top 1% of most frequently cited scientists in the field of clinical sciences.

• Professor Barter was among the first who described the activity of cholesteryl ester transfer protein, long before it has been cloned. In several papers published from the 1970’s to the 1990’s he characterized the function of this pivotal protein in HDL metabolism.
• His contributions to our current understanding of CETP were crucial and helped to make it a target of anti-atherogenic therapies. The international recognition for these seminal contributions is highlighted by the fact that he has become chairman or member of the steering committees of large randomized trials examining the efficacy and safety of two newly identified CETP inhibitors, namely torcetrapib and dalcetrapib. In general he has gained considerable recognition for his scientific and communicative skills by his nomination as steering committee member in several other interventional or observational trials.
• In parallel to his engagement in large clinical trials some of which are testing the clinical relevance of his previous basic research findings on CETP, Dr Phil Barter is pursuing novel basic research research projects aiming at the better understanding of HDL’s anti-atherogenicity. Since the late 1990’s he has made several seminal observations showing that HDL exerts several previously not appreciated functions beyond reverse cholesterol transport. Notably he and his colleagues have been the first who showed that HDL suppresses several inflammatory activities of the endothelium, for example the expression of adhesion molecules.
• In addition to performing cutting edge research, Phil Barter has been extremely active in educating the next generation of atherosclerosis researchers. He has been a very active teacher in his own present and previous institutions. His mentorship helped several important figures of the next generations in the International Atherosclerosis Research arena to evolve, for example Drs. Rye and Nicholls.
• Professor Barter has been pivotal in the field of global Atherosclerosis Research. He served our research field with distinction by playing key leadership roles for several organizations concerned with Atherosclerosis Research and by providing thoughtful and perspicacious vision to all the organizations he has been involved with. They include the Australian and International Societies of Atherosclerosis. He serves or has served on the Boards of Editors for several journals including Atherosclerosis and ATVB.