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BROWN Origin of surname

BROWN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from a physical characteristic.

The Jewish surname Brown can be a translation of the German Braun. Originally it was a nickname given to persons with brown eyes, hair or beard. In some cases the name is a matronymic (surname derived from a female ancestor's personal name), derived from the female personal name Breine or Breindel ("the brown one") in Yiddish.

Distinguished 20th century bearers of the Jewish surname Brown include the Israeli antiquities restorer Rafael Meir (Rafi) Brown, the Hungarian-born American educator Nathan Brown, and the American physicist and government official Harold Brown.

 Michael S .Brown (b.1941), specialist in genetics, Director of the Center for Genetic Diseases and one of foremost experts on cholesterol metabolism in the human body, born in New York, United States. He received an MD degree in 1966 from the University of Pennsylvania. Since the 1970s Brown and his colleague Dr. Josef Goldstein collaborated in medical research and were pioneers in the genetic field.
Together they discovered the Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which controls the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Brown and Dr. Joseph Goldstein showed that mutations in this receptor cause Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a disorder that leads to premature heart attacks. They also demonstrated a mechanism by which a low fat diet and regular exercise can decrease cholesterol levels. Their work laid the groundwork for drugs called Statins that lower blood cholesterol and prevent heart attacks.
Statins are taken daily by many millions of people worldwide as a preventive therapy against heart attacks.

Professor Brown and Dr. Goldstein shared many awards for this work, including the U.S. National Medal of Science and the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology (1985).

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BROWN Origin of surname
BROWN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from a physical characteristic.

The Jewish surname Brown can be a translation of the German Braun. Originally it was a nickname given to persons with brown eyes, hair or beard. In some cases the name is a matronymic (surname derived from a female ancestor's personal name), derived from the female personal name Breine or Breindel ("the brown one") in Yiddish.

Distinguished 20th century bearers of the Jewish surname Brown include the Israeli antiquities restorer Rafael Meir (Rafi) Brown, the Hungarian-born American educator Nathan Brown, and the American physicist and government official Harold Brown.
Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Michael S. Brown

 Michael S .Brown (b.1941), specialist in genetics, Director of the Center for Genetic Diseases and one of foremost experts on cholesterol metabolism in the human body, born in New York, United States. He received an MD degree in 1966 from the University of Pennsylvania. Since the 1970s Brown and his colleague Dr. Josef Goldstein collaborated in medical research and were pioneers in the genetic field.
Together they discovered the Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which controls the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Brown and Dr. Joseph Goldstein showed that mutations in this receptor cause Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a disorder that leads to premature heart attacks. They also demonstrated a mechanism by which a low fat diet and regular exercise can decrease cholesterol levels. Their work laid the groundwork for drugs called Statins that lower blood cholesterol and prevent heart attacks.
Statins are taken daily by many millions of people worldwide as a preventive therapy against heart attacks.

Professor Brown and Dr. Goldstein shared many awards for this work, including the U.S. National Medal of Science and the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology (1985).