Robert I. Levy (1937–2000) was an American physician and pioneer of preventive cardiology best known for his research that established the link between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and heart disease.[1][2]
Robert Levy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1937 |
| Died | 2000 |
| Occupation | Physician |
Biography
editLevy was born in Bronx, New York in 1937.[3] He graduated from Cornell University and Yale Medical School. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital.[4] He joined the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in 1963 of which he was director from 1975 to 1981.[5] In 1973, he became director of NHLBI's Division of Heart and Vascular Diseases where he managed a network of Lipid Research Clinics.[6]
He was one of the first researchers to separate cholesterol into high-density and low-density lipoproteins, which became known as the good and bad cholesterol.[5] In 1981, he became vice president and dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine and was a professor of medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He served as president of the Sandoz Research Institute from 1988 to 1992.[5] He was president of the American Home Products Corporation Wyeth-Ayerst Research Division.[7]
He died aged 63 of pancreatic cancer at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan.[5]
Coronary Primary Prevention Trial
editHe was the Project Officer of the Coronary Primary Prevention Trial, which was one of the first clinical trials to demonstrate that lowering LDL-C reduces coronary heart disease incidence.[2][6][8] That study has been described as laying the groundwork for further research on lipid lowering agents such as statins.[9]
Selected publications
edit- Hyperlipidaemia: Diagnosis and Therapy (with Basil M. Rifkind, 1977)
- Nutrition, Lipids, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Global View (with Basil M. Rifkind and Barbara H. Dennis, 1979)[10]
References
edit- ^ "Dr. Robert Levy; Linked Cholesterol With Heart Disease". latimes.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Thompson, Gilbert R. (2023). Donald Fredrickson and Robert Levy: The Classification of Disorders of Lipoprotein Metabolism. In Resolving the Cholesterol Controversy: The Scientists Who Proved the Lipid Hypothesis of Causation of Atherosclerosis and Coronary Heart Disease. World Scientific Publishing Company. pp. 71-81. ISBN 978-1-80061-397-3
- ^ Gotto, A. M. (2001). "In memoriam: Robert I. Levy 1937-2000". Journal of Lipid Research. 42 (5): 886–887. doi:10.1016/S0022-2275(20)31651-5. PMID 11352996.
- ^ "Robert I. Levy, MD (1937–2000)". lipid.org. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Robert I. Levy Dies at 63; Studied Cholesterol". nytimes.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ a b "Former NHLBI Director Levy Dies" (PDF). The NIH Record. 52 (25): 6. 2000.
- ^ Schaefer, Ernst J. (2001). "Obituary". Atherosclerosis. 158 (2): 501–502.
- ^ "Robert I. Levy". nhlbi.nih.gov. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ "Robert I. Levy". onih.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ Dwyer, Johanna (1979). "Nutrition, Lipids, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Global View". The New England Journal of Medicine. 301 (8): 447. doi:10.1056/NEJM197908233010834.