Dr. Fredrickson to Head
Institute of Medicine;
Succeeds Dr. Hogness

   

Dr. Fredrickson and colleagues intro-
duced a new system, now widely used,
to identify blood-lipid abnormalities.

Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson, di-
rector of intramural research, Na-
tional Heart and Lung Institute,
will succeed Dr. John Hogness as
President of the Institute of Med-
icine in the National Academy of
Sciences.

Dr. Fredrickson is expected to
assume the post this summer.

He will be concerned with health
policy that might influence direc-
tions of biomedical research, med-
ical education, clinical medicine,
and the delivery of health services
throughout the country.

Dr. Fredrickson received his B.S.
and M.D. degrees from the Univer-
sity of Michigan. After postgradu-
ate work at Peter Bent Brigham
Hospital, Massachusetts General
Hospital, and Harvard Medical
School, he joined the NHLI staff
as a clinical associate in 1953.

Research Described

Over the next 13 years, Dr. Fred-
rickson took part in and directed
research on the mechanisms by
which fats and fat-like substances
(lipids) are absorbed, transported,
synthesized, and broken down by
the body. From 1961 to 1966, he
also served as the Institute’s clin-
ical director.

In 1965 Dr. Fredrickson and his
colleagues introduced a new sys-

(See DR. FREDRICKSON. Pace @)
 

DR. FREDRICKSON

(Continued from Page 1)

tem for identifying and classify-
ing blood-lipid abnormalities on
the basis of plasma lipoprotein
patterns.

Using this system, they demon-
strated that elevated blood lipids
might be indicative of any of five
distinct lipid-transport disorders,
termed hyperlipoproteinemias
Types I-V.

They further established that
each type differs from the others
in the threat it poses of prema-
ture development of atherosclerosis
and coronary heart disease, in its
clinical manifestations, and in its
responsiveness to treatment by
therapeutic diets and/or lipid-low-
ering drugs.

This system is now widely used
in this country and in a number
of foreign countries.

Dr. Fredrickson was appointed
Director of NHLI in 1966. He
served in this post until 1968, when
he elected to return to research
as chief of the NHLI Molecular
Diseases Branch. He was appoint-
ed Director of the Institute’s in-
tramura] research in 1969.

Honors received by Dr. Fred-
rickson include: the Convocation
Gold Medal of the American Col-
lege of Cardiology; the James F.
Mitchell Foundation Award for
Heart and Vascular Research; the
McCollum Award from the Amer-
ican Society of Clinical Nutrition;
the DHEW Distinguished Service
Award, and the Modern Medicine
Award for Distinguished Achieve-
ment.