Roscoe Owen Brady (October 11, 1923 – June 13, 2016) was an American biochemist. He attended the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and obtained his M.D. degree from

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

in 1947. He interned at the Hospital of 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 ...

. From 1948 to 1952 he was a post-doctoral fellow in the department of physiological chemistry at 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 ...

and fellow in clinical medicine in the department of medicine. In collaboration with Samuel Gurin at the University of Pennsylvania, Brady discovered the enzyme system for the biosynthesis of long chain fatty acids, and later discovered the role of malonate coenzyme A in this process. After two and one-half years on active duty in the U.S. Naval Medical Corps, he joined the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

in 1954. He was Chief of the Developmental and Metabolic Neurology Branch in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke from 1972 to 2006. Dr. Brady and his colleagues identified the enzymatic defects in Gaucher's disease, Niemann–Pick disease, Fabry disease and the specific metabolic abnormality in Tay–Sachs disease. He and his associates developed diagnostic, carrier detection, prenatal tests for these conditions, and effective enzyme replacement therapy for patients with Gaucher disease and Fabry disease.Schiffmann R, Kopp JB, Austin HA, Sabnis S, Moore DF, Weibel T, Balow E, Brady RO. Enzyme replacement therapy in Fabry disease. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2001; 285: 2743–2749 These were the first-ever enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) treatments for lysosomal diseases, and directly led to great advances in the development of enzyme replacement therapies for some of the other lysosomal diseases, by many different researchers who were inspired by Dr. Brady. (An international research and development effort for new ERT for several devastating lysosomal diseases continues today at an intense pace, and numerous ERT clinical trials are underway.) Late in his life, Dr. Brady was investigating substrate depletion, molecular chaperone therapy, and gene therapy for patients with metabolic storage disorders. Among his numerous awards, Dr. Brady received the Borden Undergraduate Award from

in 1947; the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 1973; the Cotzias Award from the

American Academy of Neurology The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is a professional society representing over 40,000 neurologists and neuroscientists. As a medical specialty society it was established in 1948 by A.B. Baker of the University of Minnesota to advance the a ...

in 1980; the Passano Foundation Award and the Lasker Foundation Award in 1982; the Sachs Award from the Child Neurology Society in 1990; the Kovalenko Medal from 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 ...

USA in 1991; and the Alpert Foundation Prize from Harvard Medical School in 1992. He received an honorary PhD degree from the University of Uppsala in 2005. Dr. Brady was awarded the

National Medal of Technology and Innovation The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the president of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...

in 2008 by President George W. Bush. He was a member of the

and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Brady died on June 13, 2016, at his home in Rockville, MD, with his wife and sons at his side after a long battle with cancer.

References

External links

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, Roscoe 1923 births 2016 deaths Scientists from Philadelphia American biochemists American medical academics Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Pennsylvania State University alumni Harvard Medical School alumni National Medal of Technology recipients Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Members of the National Academy of Medicine