National Lipid Association Recognizes Renowned Physician and Researcher Daniel Steinberg MD, PhD, with Highest Honor

NLA Recognizes Several Renowned Lipidologists with Lifetime Member Awards at Annual Sessions Award Ceremony

(LAS VEGAS, NV) - On Saturday, June 1, the National Lipid Association (NLA) will honor Daniel Steinberg, MD, PhD, with the Distinguished Achievement Award, the highest honor conferred by the NLA, at its annual Scientific Sessions in Las Vegas, NV. The award, presented to only one person annually, honors an individual widely known for a major contribution to Clinical Lipidology (research, teaching, publishing or service) whether as a single accomplishment or through lengthy career work.

Dr. Steinberg is a Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of California-San Diego and is widely regarded as one of the foremost researchers in the area of cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism in relation to atherosclerosis. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He and his colleagues have published more than 400 papers on lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis.

He became involved in research on lipids and lipoproteins very early in his career at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked for 17 years. During his years with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute he and his colleagues helped establish the central role of hormone-sensitive lipase in controlling mobilization of fat and showed that the hormones regulating it worked by way of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. While at the NIH, he succeeded in identifying the precise metabolic error leading to a neurologic disease characterized by accumulation of an abnormal tissue fatty acid, phytanic acid.

“On behalf of the National Lipid Association, it is my pleasure to single out Dr. Steinberg for his extensive contributions to the field of lipidology. Dr. Steinberg and his colleagues are responsible for many advances in the field of lipidology,” said NLA President Peter Toth, MD, PhD, FNLA. “Dr. Steinberg’s extensive research will stand as a pillar of excellence and serve as a resource for countless researchers for many years to come.”

Dr. Steinberg received his MD degree from Wayne State University in 1944 and his PhD in Biological Chemistry from Harvard University in 1950.

Other top awards presented at the NLA’s Annual Honors and Awards Ceremony include the Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, which goes to a scientist or clinician who lends prestige to the NLA by virtue of his/her extraordinary expertise and contributions to the field of Clinical Lipidology. Three individuals will be honored with Lifetime Membership by the NLA this year:

• Peter Libby, MD, Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston;
• Gerald M. Reaven, MD, a member of the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine as Professor of Medicine (Active Emeritus), Division of Cardiovascular Medicine; and
• Nanette K. Wenger, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine and a Consultant to the Emory Heart and Vascular Center