Michael Stuart Brown

Dr. Michael Stuart Brown (b. April 13, 1941) is an American geneticist. In 1985 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph L. Goldstein for describing the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.

Dr. Brown graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962 and received his M.D. from Penn medical school in 1966. Moving to the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas (now called UT Southwestern Medical Center) Brown and colleague 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 United States and around the wold. 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. Subsequently their team of dedicated researchers elucidated the role of lipid modification of proteins (protein prenylation) in cancer.

In 1993, their trainees Xiaodong Wang and Michael Briggs purified the Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs). Since 1993, they 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. Dr. Brown holds The W. A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research; is a Regental Professor of the University of Texas; and holds the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine. Frequently mentioned as a candidate for nationally-prominent positions in scientific administration, Dr. Brown, like his colleague Joseoh L. Goldstein, elects to continue hands-on involvement with research, leading a research team that typically includes a dozen doctoral and postdoctoral trainees. He and his colleague are among the most highly-cited scientists in the world.