Alex Dopico, MD, PhD, and Anna Bukiya, PhD, research collaborators and faculty in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, have just finished editing a comprehensive book on cholesterol.
“Cholesterol: From Chemistry and Biophysics to the Clinic,” was published by Elsevier. It will be released in May.
“It was a massive, yet very pleasant effort,” said Dr. Dopico, the Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in the department. “It is highly comprehensive, written by specialists in the field representing more than a dozen countries.”
The 38-chapter book begins with the chemical and biophysical aspects of cholesterol discoveries. It ends with the latest breakthroughs for tackling health conditions associated with abnormal cholesterol levels.
The project, which included soliciting all the experts, took more than a year.
“It is quite unique because books on cholesterol out there today focus on distinct aspects, whether cholesterol chemistry itself or cholesterol screening and its clinical importance. But to the best of my knowledge, an extensive coverage of such varied topics is not found in a single volume” said Dr. Bukiya, a professor in UTHSC’s Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology.
“This was the largest book project we have ever done,” Bukiya said. “Everybody who works with cholesterol will appreciate it.”
The book, available for pre-order on Amazon, is designed to empower researchers, students, and clinicians to in various disciplines to advance new studies in cholesterol, improve clinical management, and drive drug discovery.
Bukiya and Dopico have collaborated on many projects, including work in 2020 where they received $2.4 million from the National Institutes of Health to study the molecular mechanisms by which cholesterol modulates blood vessel function in the brain.
For more than 20 years, Dr. Dopico has studied ion channel regulation by a wide variety of lipids, including fatty acids, leukotrienes, glycerophospholipids, and cholesterol itself. In 2009, he received a Merit Award from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for his work on ethanol actions on slo1 channels. Until 2021, he served on the institute’s national advisory committee.
Dr. Bukiya’s research focuses on lipid modulation of ion channel function in excitable tissues and sensitivity to drugs. Her studies have been consistently funded by the NIH and private foundations. Besides numerous research studies, she has edited one other book and co-edited several others.
Both editors are members of the Biophysical Society, International Drug Abuse Research Society, Research Society on Alcoholism, and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.