Andrew Brown is a Professor of Biochemistry in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at UNSW Sydney where he teaches on the biochemistry of fats (lipids) to science and medical students.  This has given him an interest in dietary fats, facts and fads, and he contributes the occasional article on these to The Conversation.

For the last couple of decades, his research has focused on one particular lipid which has become a by-word for heart disease risk, cholesterol. In fact, the cells in our body need cholesterol. However, too much cholesterol in our cells can cause disease, including heart disease. Therefore we have evolved an elaborate system for keeping the cholesterol content of our cells under tight-control. He had the privilege to work in the laboratory of Nobel laureates, Drs Joe Goldstein and Mike Brown in Dallas, who over the past three decades have revealed layer after layer of complexity of how cells regulate their cholesterol levels.