Dario DiFrancesco

Dario DiFrancesco (born 10 February 1948) is a Professor Emeritus (Physiology) at the University of Milano. In 1979, he and collaborators discovered the so-called "funny" (or "pacemaker") current in cardiac pacemaker cells, a new mechanism involved in the generation of cardiac spontaneous activity and autonomic regulation of heart rate. That initiated a new field of research in the heart and brain, where hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, the molecular components of "funny" channels cloned in the late 90's, are today known to play fundamental roles in health and disease. Clinically relevant exploitation of the properties of "funny" channels has developed a channel blocker with specific heart rate-slowing action, ivabradine, marketed for the therapy of coronary artery disease, heart failure and the symptomatic treatment of chronic stable ''angina.''

Dario DiFrancesco is the 2008 recipient of the Grand Prix scientifique de la Fondation Lefoulon-Delalande of the Institute de France. Provided by Wikipedia