Michael Stuart Brown

Michael Stuart Brown ForMemRS NAS AAA&S APS (born April 13, 1941) is an American geneticist and Nobel laureate. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph L. Goldstein in 1985 for describing the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.

Early life and education Brown was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 13, 1941, the son of Evelyn, a homemaker, and Harvey Brown, a textile salesman. His family is Jewish. He graduated from Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. Brown graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962 and received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1966.

Career Moving to the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas, now the UT Southwestern Medical Center, Brown and colleague Joseph L. Goldstein researched cholesterol metabolism and discovered that human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that extract cholesterol from the bloodstream. The lack of sufficient LDL receptors is implicated in familial hypercholesterolemia, which predisposes heavily for cholesterol-related diseases. In addition to explaining the underlying pathology of this disease, their work uncovered a fundamental aspect of cell biology - receptor-mediated endocytosis. Their findings led to the development of statin drugs, the cholesterol-lowering compounds that today are used by 16 million Americans and are the most widely prescribed medications in the United States. Their discoveries are improving more lives every year, both in the US and around the world. New federal cholesterol guidelines will triple the number of Americans taking statin drugs to lower their cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke for countless people. Following these important advances, their team of dedicated researchers elucidated the role of lipid modification of proteins (protein prenylation) in cancer. In 1984 he was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University together with Joseph L. Goldstein (co-recipient of 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In 1988, Brown received the National Medal of Science for his contributions to medicine.

In 1993, their trainees Xiaodong Wang and Michael Briggs purified the sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs). Since 1993, Brown, Goldstein, and their colleagues have described the unexpectedly complex machinery by which cells maintain the necessary levels of fats and cholesterol in the face of varying environmental circumstances.

Brown holds the W. A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research; is a Regental Professor of the University of Texas; holds the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.

B Awards and honors Brown has won numerous awards and honors, including:

2016 - Keynote Speaker at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders 2011 - Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2007 - Builders of Science Award, Research!America 2005 - Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service 2005 - Herbert Tabor Award, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2003 - Albany Medical Center Prize 2002 - Kober Medal, Association of American Physicians 1999 - Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, Harvard Medical School 1991 - Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) 1987 - Elected member of the American Philosophical Society 1986 - Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1985 - Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine 1985 - Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research 1985 - William Allan Award, American Society of Human Genetics 1984 - Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize 1981 - Gairdner Foundation International Award 1981 - Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1980 - elected member of the National Academy of Sciences 1979 - Lounsbery Award, U.S. National Academy of Sciences 1978 - Passano Award, Johns Hopkins University 1976 - Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry, American Chemical Society 1974 - Heinrich Wieland Prize