Michael S. Brown

Dr. Brown is Professor of Molecular Genetics and Director of the Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He and his long-time colleague, Dr. Joseph L. Goldstein, together discovered the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which controls the level of cholesterol in blood and in cells. They showed that mutations in this receptor cause Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a disorder that leads to premature heart attacks in one out of every 500 people in most populations. They have received many awards for this work, including the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology (1985), the Albert D. Lasker Prize in Basic Medical Research (1985) and the U.S. National Medal of Science (1988). Dr. Brown is a member of the Board of Directors of Pfizer and Regeneron and a former member of the Science Advisory Board of Genentech. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, Royal Society (London), the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.