Dr Len Storlien, who passed away in February 2022 in Sydney, Australia, was an outstanding researcher, collaborator and mentor in nutrition, particularly recognised for his research investigating metabolic function. Len was born in Canada in 1947. His colleagues well remember his stories of growing up on a farm in the wide-open spaces near Lethbridge, Alberta. He attended the University of Lethbridge, graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry and later undertook a Masters degree in Physiology and Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He was an outstanding scientist from the start, with his first paper published in Science reporting on experiments in rats determining the regions of the hypothalamus that regulate food intake. Len maintained this interest in the brain regulation of metabolism throughout his research career. He travelled to Australia in the mid-1970s to undertake a PhD in Physiology and Psychology at the Australian National University, Canberra. He continued his interest in the central regulation of feeding and metabolism during a postdoctoral period with Dr Dick Keesey at the University of Wisconsin (1977-79) and then returned to the antipodes in 1979, first as a postdoctoral fellow at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
In 1982 Len took a position at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, as a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Research Officer. While he continued his interest in the hypothalamic regulation of insulin release and action, Len's arrival at Garvan coincided with the ground-breaking work of Kraegen, James, Jenkins and Chisholm in developing the hyperinsulinemic/euglycemic clamp in rats. This led to a highly productive collaboration (several landmark articles with thousands of citations) defining a relationship between dietary fats and insulin action in muscle in animals and humans. This body of work established Len as a world authority on the impact of dietary fats and membrane fatty acid composition on insulin sensitivity.
After 10 years at the Garvan, Len moved to the Department of Endocrinology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) Sydney. With PhD students David Pan and Adamandia Kriketos and post-doctoral Fellow Louise Baur he worked with others to establish indirect calorimetry, double labelled water, glucose clamp and muscle biopsy methods. He was also an integral member of a team investigating muscle membrane fatty acid changes in infants at The Children's Hospital at Camperdown. At RPAH Endocrinology he was part of a vibrant community of scientists and clinician researchers (including Greg Cooney and Ian Caterson) investigating aspects of lipid and glucose metabolism in animal models and humans. Len had a deep and broad understanding of these issues and worked collaboratively with a variety of people across traditional discipline boundaries. He especially nurtured his research staff, HDR students and post-doctoral researchers, giving them opportunities to be the first author on papers, submit research grants and present work at international meetings. Len was also a key mover in establishing the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity (now ANZOS). He accessed his scientific networks to bring high profile international speakers to the initial scientific meetings of this new professional society.
Len's interests covered nutritional biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, neuroscience, and translational medicine as his career progressed. His work was largely laboratory-based, but his great vision meant he published widely and with colleagues from various related disciplines. This was significant, when in 1994 Len moved to a senior academic post at the University of Wollongong, where he accepted a Professorship. Here he brought together academics and researchers from the previous Departments of Human Movement Science and Public Health and Nutrition to form the Department of Biomedical Sciences. In turn, he set up the University's Metabolic Research Centre which focused on Obesity and Metabolism. This led to the successful bid for an Australian Research Council Key Centre in Smart Foods. He held the senior administrative position of Dean of the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Science for a short while, but research called him back. Len had a great impact on many researchers in Science, Medicine, and Health at UoW. Amongst his most highly cited papers were animal model studies of dietary fats and membrane function, and the aetiology of obesity and insulin resistance, publishing with colleagues in that area (Xu Feng Huang, Tony Hulbert and others). This translated to related human studies and scientific reviews collaborating with clinical researchers Linda Tapsell, Dennis Calvert, and Barbara Meyer. One of the major international links Len built with UoW was through the KANWU study. This was a multicentre dietary intervention trial involving Kuopio (Finland), Aarhus (Denmark), Naples (Italy), Wollongong and Uppsala (Sweden). It brought together senior medical investigators, laboratory scientists and a team of research dietitians. The study showed that decreasing dietary saturated fatty acids and increasing monounsaturated fatty acids improved insulin sensitivity in humans. The primary paper was published in 2001 in Diabetologia and remains a highly cited work, where the outcomes continue to influence dietary recommendations for chronic disease prevention. Throughout his time at UoW, Len was an inspiring leader who recognised and valued the contributions of fellow academics. He read the literature closely and was not put off if studies did not work out as expected or grant applications were unsuccessful. Most importantly, he stressed the significance of going out and communicating with the international scientific community, and enjoying life along the way. Len and his wife Sue Hatherly were excellent cooks and wonderful hosts with a great sense of humour, inviting researchers regularly to their home on the coast.
In 2001 Len moved to Gothenburg, Sweden, to become Head, Metabolism Section, and later, Disease Area Scientific Leader-Obesity, at AstraZeneca's Research and Development facility. At that time, the AstraZeneca site in Alderley Park, located outside Manchester, UK, was the centre for diabetes research, and Len built a close connection with colleagues at that site, spending many hours on the Gothenburg-Manchester flight. Later he became the Disease Area Scientific Leader for both Diabetes and Obesity, a position he had until he left AstraZeneca. Colleagues at AstraZeneca in both Gothenburg and Alderley Park very much appreciated his deep and broad knowledge of metabolism and neuroscience as well as his intellectual curiosity, warm and friendly manner and great and, sometimes, dark sense of humour. Meanwhile, Australian colleagues enjoyed the warm hospitality offered by Len and his wife Sue on their visits to Sweden. When the couple decided to return to Australia in 2007 many colleagues gathered for a farewell party at the AstraZeneca site, including a dinner with both scientific and fun presentations. Len mentioned his only regret was not learning more Swedish during his time there.
On returning to Australia, Len took up a position at the University of Sydney (USYD) as the Leader of Obesity Research and moved with the Bodento the newly established Charles Perkins Centre - an ambitious initiative to bring the University together across its disciplines to tackle the burden of chronic disease. Len's sage advice and deep experience was hugely appreciated by the leadership team and Len became a significant mentor to researchers at all career stages in the newly established centre. Sadly his wife Sue passed away during those years.
Colleagues remember Len as a much-loved mentor, confidant and support; intellectually energetic with a warm sense of humour, and possessing exceptional skill in connecting people at a local, national and international level. A devoted family man, proud of his son Hugh, he was a kind and gentle man with a questioning mind. This great scientist is now sadly missed by colleagues around the world.