1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Dr. Michael Brown
Dr. Joseph Goldstein

Drs. Brown and Goldstein personify the team dynamic at the heart of UT Southwestern’s approach to research. They shared the 1985 Nobel Prize for their discovery of the underlying mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism. Their findings led to the development of statin drugs, the cholesterol-lowering compounds that today are used by 16 million Americans and are the most widely prescribed medications in the United States. And their discovery is improving more lives every year. New federal cholesterol guidelines will triple the number of Americans taking statin drugs to lower their cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke for countless people.

1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Dr. Johann Deisenhofer

Dr. Deisenhofer’s Nobel-winning research used X-ray crystallography to elucidate for the first time the three-dimensional structure of a large membrane-bound protein molecule. This structure helped explain the process of photosynthesis, by which sunlight is converted to chemical energy. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prize, describes photosynthesis as the most important chemical reaction on earth. Dr. Deisenhofer’s ongoing work is helping UT Southwestern advance medical science at the molecular level, by determining the structures of proteins involved in disease.

1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Dr. Alfred Gilman

Dr. Gilman’s Nobel-winning studies on “G proteins" discovered a major language that cells use to communicate, that is, how cells receive and respond to external stimuli, thus controlling the most fundamental processes in the human body. Like all of his fellow Nobel laureates at UT Southwestern, Dr. Gilman was less than 40 years old when he did the work for which he won the Nobel Prize. Great discoveries tend to come from young scientists. Former dean executive vice president for academic affairs, provost, and dean of UT Southwestern Medical School, he is now chief scientific officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Through his leadership at CPRIT, Dr. Gilman ensures that grant monies awarded will go to research that leads to more effective therapeutics and potential cures to enhance the lives of cancer patients. He continues to serve UT Southwestern as regental professor of pharmacology.

2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Dr. Bruce Beutler

Dr. Bruce Beutler, director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern, shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovering receptor proteins that recognize disease-causing agents and activate innate immunity, the first step in the body's immune response. The discovery triggered an explosion of research in innate immunity and a dozen different receptors have since been identified in humans and mice, opening up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.