Dr.
David W. Russell
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Geneticist; Molecular biologist; Biochemist; Educator
Area
Biological Sciences
Specialty
Medical Sciences
Elected
2011
Dr. David W. Russell is the Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Russell is a leader in applying biochemistry, human genetics, and molecular biology to unravel metabolic diseases. His laboratory has isolated over a dozen genes that encode enzymes involved in cholesterol breakdown and has identified the molecular bases of six human genetic diseases characterized by abnormal cholesterol and lipid metabolism. Work in the laboratory has identified 24-hydroxylase as the enzyme responsible for most cholesterol turnover in the brain, and recently demonstrated that 24-hydroxylase deficiency is linked to defects in memory and learning. The laboratory is currently focused on elucidating the roles of oxysterols in health and disease. Russell is the recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health, the Katz Award from the American Heart Association, the Kilby Science Place Award from Texas Instruments, the Oppenheimer Award from the Endocrine Society, the Windaus Prize from the Falck Foundation, the Avanti Award in Lipids from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Barbara Bowman Distinguished Geneticist Award from the Texas Genetics Society. In addition to his American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership, Russell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Russell, along with Dr. Joseph Sambrook, is the author of the bestselling molecular biology cloning manual, Molecular Cloning, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. His scientific publications appear in journals including Cell, Nature, and Science.
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