Fredrickson, Donald S.

Donald S. Fredrickson (1924-2002), a physiologist and science administrator, made signal contributions to American medicine over the course of four decades, first as a laboratory scientist, then as a leader of several prominent medical research institutions. Fredrickson's studies of the connection between lipid metabolism and heart disease made him one of the most widely cited physiologists of the 1960s and 1970s. His system of classifying disorders in lipid metabolism was adopted by the World Health Organization as an international standard for identifying increased risks of coronary artery disease, heart attack, and stroke linked to the consumption of fats and cholesterol. He also discovered two diseases, cholesterol ester storage disease and Tangier Disease, caused by genetic disorders in the storage of cholesterol in the body. As director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Fredrickson mediated between scientists and the federal government during contentious, far-ranging debates over the direction of medical research policy, research funding, and the potential dangers of genetic engineering that took place in the second half of the 1970s.

From the description of Donald S. Fredrickson papers, 1910-2002 (bulk 1960-1999). (National Library of Medicine). WorldCat record id: 52301603

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