We are delighted to report that one of our team, Dr Louise Hesketh, has received the Cardiac Early Career Seminar Award from the American Health and Environmental Science Institute (HESI) for two publications advancing Cardiac Safety Pharmacology (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65190-y and https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15764).

The award focuses on the experimental approach that allowed the translational therapeutic index (TTI) (a measure of the difference between minimum beneficial dose and threshold dose for producing adverse effects), to be determined for OCT2013, lidocaine and a drug similar to lidocaine (Mexiletine).

The TTI for OCT2013 was found to be far superior to that of lidocaine and mexiletine. It is good news for OCT2013 that the quality of the work establishing proof of concept, effectiveness and mechanism of action in animal models has been recognised by the award of this prize.