ROCKVILLE, MD – The Biophysical Society is pleased to announce that Stephen C. Cannon, MD, PhD, Chair and Professor, Department of Physiology at the University of California Los Angeles, has been named the recipient of the 2022 BPS Award in the Biophysics of Health and Disease. Cannon will be honored at the Society’s 66th Annual Meeting, being held in San Francisco, California from February 19-23, 2022.

Cannon is being recognized for his for groundbreaking discoveries in the biophysical elucidation of channelopathies of sodium and calcium channels, including hyperkalemic and hypokalemic periodic paralysis, and in using this understanding to design clinical trials to treat these disorders.

“The ultimate goal of biomedical research, no matter how fundamental, is to eventually have an impact on human health,” said BPS President Frances Separovic, University of Melbourne, Australia. “The field of ion channelopathies has grown exponentially since the early 1990s to include a multitude of diseases, affected tissues, and channels. Stephen has been a major contributor, innovator, and leader in establishing the mechanisms of disease for ion channelopathies of skeletal muscle. We are excited to call attention to Stephen’s work in this area.”

About the Award – The Biophysics of Health and Disease Award, established by the Biophysical Society, honors significant contribution to understanding the fundamental cause or pathogenesis of disease, or to enabling the treatment or prevention.