Brian Bronte-Stewart, MD

1923 — 1965

Bronte-Stewart was a pioneer in research on lipids, lipoproteins, and dietary essential fatty acids in atherosclerosis. He trained and worked with John Brock in Capetown, then spent two years with Ancel Keys at Minnesota, before becoming Director of the Medical Research Council Atheroma Research Unit at the Western Infirmary and Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Glasgow.

He was an intensely curious and gifted scientist, skilled in many methods and across disciplines. We worked together on a novel approach to hemostasis in lipidemia, measuring the curve of chylomicron clearance by nephelometry in relation to rouleaux formation of erythrocytes observed in conjunctival capillaries over 8 hours post-meal (90 gms fat). In some subjects there was clumping at peak lipemia, but the findings were inconsistent.  Bronte admitted to problems with authority, was a delightful fishing companion, a chain smoker, and he died at age 42 of bladder carcinoma. (HB)