Michael Stuart Brown

ForMemRS Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

NAS Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

AAA&S APS (born April 13, 1941) is an American

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

and

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

. He was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

with Joseph L. Goldstein in 1985 for describing the regulation of

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

Education and early life

Brown was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, the son of Evelyn, a homemaker, and Harvey Brown, a textile salesman. His family is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He graduated from Cheltenham High School (Wyncote, Pennsylvania). Brown graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1962 and received his M.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

in 1966.

Career and research

Moving to the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas, now the

UT Southwestern Medical Center The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 ...

, Brown and colleague Joseph L. Goldstein researched cholesterol metabolism and discovered that human cells have

low-density lipoprotein Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoprotein that transport all fat molecules around the body in extracellular water. These groups, from least dense to most dense, are chylomicrons (aka ULDL by the overall density ...

(LDL) receptors that extract cholesterol from the bloodstream. The lack of sufficient LDL receptors is implicated in

familial hypercholesterolemia Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder characterized by high cholesterol levels, specifically very high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL cholesterol), in the blood and early cardiovascular diseases. The mos ...

, 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 Receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME), also called clathrin-mediated endocytosis, is a process by which cells absorb metabolites, hormones, proteins – and in some cases viruses – by the inward budding of the plasma membrane (invagination). This ...

. Their findings led to the development of

statin Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of medications that lower cholesterol. They are prescribed typically to people who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carriers of cholesterol play ...

drugs, the

-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 Prenylation (also known as isoprenylation or lipidation) is the addition of hydrophobic molecules to a protein or a biomolecule. It is usually assumed that prenyl groups (3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl) facilitate attachment to cell membranes, similar to ...

) in

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. In 1984 he was awarded the

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers who have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemist ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

together with Joseph L. Goldstein (co-recipient of 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In 1988, Brown received the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

for his contributions to medicine. In 1993, their trainees Xiaodong Wang and Michael Briggs purified the

sterol regulatory element binding protein Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) are transcription factors that bind to the sterol regulatory element DNA sequence TCACNCCAC. Mammalian SREBPs are encoded by the genes '' SREBF1'' and '' SREBF2''. SREBPs belong to the basic- ...

s (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. Brown is also on the Prix Galien USA Committee that "recognizes the technical, scientific and clinical research skills necessary to develop innovative medicines".

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 The Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research is the United States' second highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research, awarded by the Albany Medical Center. Among prizes for medicine worldwide, the Albany Medical ...

* 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 The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

* 1986 - Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

* 1985 -

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

for physiology and medicine * 1985 -

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the Lasker Award, prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for a fundamental discovery that opens up a new area of biomedical science. The award frequently precedes a Nobel Prize in Phys ...

* 1985 - William Allan Award, American Society of Human Genetics * 1984 -

* 1981 - Gairdner Foundation International Award * 1981 - Elected member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* 1980 - elected member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

* 1979 - Lounsbery Award, U.S.

* 1978 - Passano Award, Johns Hopkins University * 1976 - Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry, American Chemical Society * 1974 -

Heinrich Wieland Prize The Heinrich Wieland Prize is awarded annually by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation for outstanding research on biologically active molecules and systems in the areas of chemistry, biochemistry and physiology as well as their clinical importance ...

Bibliography

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References

External links