David Russell, Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

David W. Russell received a BA degree in biology from UT Austin in 1975 and a PhD in chemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1980. He was a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation postdoctoral fellow from 1980-1982 with Nobel laureate Dr. Michael Smith (Chemistry, 1993) at the University of British Columbia. He joined the faculty at UT Southwestern in 1982, was promoted to professor in 1990, and received the McDermott Distinguished Chair of Molecular Genetics in 1992.

Dr. Russell’s research interests are in lipid metabolism, in particular the enzymatic pathways that dispose of cholesterol. 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. Dr. Russell and Dr. Joseph Sambrook are the authors of the best selling molecular biology cloning manual, Molecular Cloning, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Dr. 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, the Barbara Bowman Distinguished Geneticist Award from the Texas Genetics Society. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2011.

Education

Research Interest

Publications

Featured Publications

Genetic Evidence that the Human CYP2R1 Enzyme Is A Key Vitamin D 25-Hydroxylase.: Cheng, J.B., Levine, M.A., Bell, N.H., Mangelsdorf, D.J., and Russell, D.W. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2004 101 7711-7715
The Bile Acid Synthetic Gene 3beta-Hydroxy-D5-C27-Steroid Oxidoreductase is Mutated in Progressive Intrahepatic Cholestasis.: Schwarz, M., Wright, A.C., Davis, D.L., Nazer, H., Bjorkhem, I., and Russell, D.W. J. Clin. Invest. 2000 106 1175-1184
Identification of a New Inborn Error in Bile Acid Synthesis: Mutation of the Oxysterol 7alpha-Hydroxylase Gene Causing Severe Neonatal Liver Disease.: Setchell, K.D.R., Schwarz, M., O'Connell, N.C., Lund, E.G., Davis, D.L., Lathe, R., Thompson, H.R., Tyson, R.W., Sokol, R.J., and Russell, D.W. J. Clin. Invest. 1998 102 1690-1703
The Molecular Genetics of Steroid 5alpha-Reductase 2 Deficiency.: Thigpen, A.E., Davis, D.L., Milatovich, A., Mendonca, B.B., Imperato-McGinley, J., Griffin, J.E., Francke, U., Wilson, J.D., and Russell, D.W. J. Clin. Invest. 1992 90 799-809
Mutations in the Bile Acid Biosynthetic Enzyme Sterol 27-Hydroxylase Underlie Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis.: Cali, J.J., Hsieh, C-L., Francke, U., and Russell, D.W. J. Biol. Chem. 1991 266 7779-7783
Lucky, times ten: A career in Texas science.: Russell DW J. Biol. Chem. 2018 Dec 293 49 18804-18827
Oxysterol Restraint of Cholesterol Synthesis Prevents AIM2 Inflammasome Activation.: Dang EV, McDonald JG, Russell DW, Cyster JG Cell 2017 Oct
Steroid 5a-Reductase 2 Deficiency.: Mendonca BB, Batista RL, Domenice S, Costa EM, Arnhold IJ, Russell DW, Wilson JD J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 2016 May
Genetic, anatomic, and clinical determinants of human serum sterol and vitamin D levels.: Stiles AR, Kozlitina J, Thompson BM, McDonald JG, King KS, Russell DW Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2014 Sep 111 38 E4006-14
25-Hydroxycholesterol Secreted by Macrophages in Response to Toll-like Receptor Activation Suppresses Immunoglobulin A Production.: Bauman, D.R., Bitmansour, A.D., McDonald, J.G., Thompson, B.M., Liang, G., Russell, D.W. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA September 2009 106 16764-9

Honors & Awards