A Moment to Recognize W. Virgil Brown, M.D.
SELA Founder

The Southeast Lipid Association has been extremely fortunate to have the benefit of the powerful force of Dr. Virgil Brown as its founder and first president. His vision for a truly multidisciplinary society with a mission to bring the knowledge gleaned from the laboratory as well as population studies to the clinical setting, ultimately reaching individual patients, would in itself be remarkable. However, his illustrious track record of outstanding accomplishments brings with it an understanding of the scope of his total influence on the field of contemporary lipid management. Dr Brown was born in Royston, Georgia. trained at Emory University, and received his MD from Yale. He did his house staff training at Johns Hopkins and showed his brilliance early at the National Heart and Lung Institute as a Clinical Associate working with Donald Fredrickson and Robert Levy.

His early molecular studies were followed by a natural extension into population based clinical trials as he assumed the position of Director of the Lipid Research Clinic in San Diego. While there he collaborated with Dr. Dan Steinberg and Dr. Scott Grundy and served as mentor to two highly talented younger colleagues, Drs Henry Ginsberg and Anh Le.

Subsequently Dr. Brown was named the Joseph Lowe and Louis Price Professor of Medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York where he was director of the Division of Arteriosclerosis and Metabolism for nine years. The two outstanding young colleagues above accompanied him to Mount Sinai, and, in addition, while there Dr. Brown nurtured the career of another outstanding young lipidologist, Dr. Ira Goldberg. At Mt. Sinai the Department of Medicine honored him as the Distinguished Professor of the Year in 1987. His legacy in many venues with many illustrious trainees who have emerged as powerful forces in the science of lipidology speaks to his capacity to lead and nurture others. This was perhaps the passion that later became manifest in the spark that created the vision for SELA. He has always been vitally interested in sharing his science and skills.Dr. Brown served as president of a private foundation (the Medlantic Research Foundation in Washington, DC) for four years. While there he oversaw the growth of yet another seminal contributor to the discipline of lipid research, Dr. Barbara Howard.

Dr. Brown returned to academia in 1991 as Charles Howard Candler Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Division of Arteriosclerosis and Lipid Metabolism at his alma mater, Emory University in Atlanta Georgia. In 1991 he was honored with the highest American Heart Association office, that of President. He served this position with his usual giving and spirited nature, sharing his expertise and nurturing the mergence of multidisciplinary opportunities for other scientists and practitioners within the organization. In 1996 he received the "Gold Heart Award", the highest honor given by the American Heart Association for service to its mission over a lifetime. Most recently he has accepted the position of Chief of Medicine and Primary Care at the Atlanta Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, a major teaching facility for Emory University School of Medicine where he continues to teach and assure a new generation of well-informed physicians.

Dr. Brown has contributed enormously to lipid research and management in the Southeast, the nation, and internationally. He has been the single most important facilitator of the Southeast Lipid Conference, a yearly event attended by virtually every lipid specialist in the Southeast. And, more recently, he has founded the Southeast Lipid Association to strengthen the "from bench to bedside" model of translating scientific research into the provision of highly skilled care for individual patients. Among Dr. Brown's many talents, is his selfless dedication to and capacity to foster the careers of promising young investigators and practitioners. The members of this young Association deeply appreciate his leadership and vision; we hope the Society will continue to reflect his wisdom and foresight as seen in the many stellar investigators and clinicians he has nurtured over the years. Even more importantly, Virgil Brown brings creative understanding to each stage of the evolution in this emerging science. As Albert Einstein once said, "To be sure, it is not solely the fruits of scientific research that elevate a man and enrich his nature, but the urge to understand, the intellectual work, creative and receptive." (Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, 1954)