Professor Paul N Durrington is Professor of Medicine at the University of Manchester and consultant physician at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK. He graduated in Physiology and Medicine at the University of Bristol (Bristol, UK) and trained in general medicine, diabetes mellitus and metabolic disorders. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Pathologists and the Academy of Medical Sciences. His MD thesis was on The Assay of Apolipoprotein B. In 1979-1980 he worked at the University of California, San Diego, USA as Travelling Fellow of the British Heart Foundation and American Heart Association. He has been Chairman of the British Hyperlipidaemia Association (1992-1995), a member of the British Heart Foundation Project Grants Committee (1997-2000), the Director of Research and Development to the Central Manchester Healthcare Trust (1997-2001) and he is currently Medical Director of the Family Heart Association. He has written over 100 original papers and a similar number of other publications including three books: Hyperlipidaemia: Diagnosis and Management (1989; second edition 1995; third edition 2002), Preventive Cardiology (1993; second edition 2001) and Hyperlipidaemia: Fast Facts (2000).