Professor wins inaugural Schuster Prize

Timothy Kamp, a professor of medicine and physiology at the School of Medicine and Public Health, has been awarded the inaugural Schuster Prize for excellence in advancing cardiovascular medicine at the school.

Kamp received the award today (May 8) in a ceremony at Blackhawk Country Club. His research focuses on cardiac ion channels and stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

The award was established through a gift from renowned cardiologist and UW–Madison alumnus Benjamin Schuster of Dayton, Ohio.

Schuster is the retired medical director of the Kettering Cardiovascular Institute in Dayton. The prize may be awarded to a deserving UW–Madison student, fellow or faculty member.

“The Schuster Prize is a great honor,” Kamp says. “It recognizes the work of many students, trainees and researchers working in my lab to advance our understanding of how the electrical system in the heart works and what goes wrong in arrhythmias and heart failure.

“Additionally, our research over the last decade has pioneered the use of stem cells as a model system to generate human heart cells both for research applications and for pilot studies of cardiac regeneration of injured or failing hearts.”