Nobel Prize Recipient in Physiology and Medicine. He received recognition after being awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He shared the Nobel Prize with American scientists, Gertrude Elion and George H. Hitchings, who both were instrumental in the development of medications for various cancers and bacterial infections, as well as AIDS, herpes, gout, malaria and transplantation. A physiologist, he was honored in 1988 for his discoveries of propranolol, the first beta blocker, and cimetidine, the first medication effective in controlling stomach acid and treating peptic ulcers. Born in Uddington, he was raised in Fife and at 15 received a scholarship to study medicine at the University of St. Andrews. Following graduation, he taught in Singapore for three years, then returned home in 1950 to a faculty position at the University of Glasgow Veterinary School. Over the years, Sir James held jobs in both academic medicine and private industry, and during the 1950s began the research that led to the synthesis of propranolol (Inderal), the prototype beta receptor antagonist; originally used in cardiovascular disease for angina pectoris, the beta blockers have since found a multiplicity of indications from heart attacks to hypertension, migraines, hyperthyroidism, and even stage fright. Sir James' later work resulted in the discovery of cimetidine (Tagamet) which was introduced in 1976 as the initial H2 receptor antagonist, at the time the only effective treatment for peptic ulcer disease, and still a commonly used heartburn remedy. He held professorships at University College, London, and Kings College, London, and from 1992 until 2006 was Chancellor of the University of Dundee. His honors, besides the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine, were many; in 1976, the Lasker Award and election as Fellow of the Royal Society, Knighthood in 1981, and, in 2000, the rarely bestowed Order of Merit.