Curt D. Sigmund, Ph.D., University of Iowa professor of internal medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics, received the 2009 Novartis Award for Hypertension Research. The American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research sponsors the award.

The award is the highest honor in hypertension research given annually by the association and Novartis. It recognizes outstanding researchers whose investigations have improved treatment and increased understanding of high blood pressure.

Sigmund received the award for his pioneering research using genetically manipulated mice to understand the role of the renin-angiotensin system in hypertension and the involvement of the protein PPAR gamma, a target of anti-diabetes medications, in blood vessel function.

Sigmund, who holds the Roy J. Carver Chair in Hypertension Research, directs the Center on Functional Genomics of Hypertension in the UI Cardiovascular Research Center.