Drawing upon nearly 50 years of experience in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology, Dr. Walter James McConathy commenced his career as a postdoctoral fellow in the cardiovascular section of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in 1966, where he served until 1971. Following this appointment, he received a Doctor of Philosophy in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Oklahoma, and went on to serve as a postdoctoral fellow in the Lipoprotein Laboratory from 1971 to 1974. Subsequently, he served the Laboratory as a staff scientist for one year, and then advanced to assistant member until 1981 and associate member until 1991.
Concurrent to these roles, Dr. McConathy served the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine between 1985 and 1992 as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. From there, he relocated to the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth in 1992, where until 2007, he excelled as an associate professor and director of the Department of Medicine’s Division of Clinical Research. During this time, he also flourished as an adjunct associate professor in their Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Congruent to these paths, Dr. McConathy was an acting chairman from 1993 to 1995 and a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine from 2007 to 2011 at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. From 2002 until his retirement in 2014, he served LipoMedics, Ltd., in Fort Worth as president.
Dr. McConathy is renowned for his discovery of lipid-binding proteins associated with the lipid transport system, and maintains membership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Federation for Clinical Research and Sigma Xi. He is also a fellow of the Council on Arteriosclerosis with the American Heart Association.
Impressively, Dr. McConathy has contributed nearly 250 articles and abstracts to professional journals, as well as 150 professional publications within his areas of expertise. He participated in the USA-USSR Health Professional Exchange Program in 1979. As a testament to his success, he received a Morning Star Promotions Award and was named a Top Professional in 2020.
Dr. McConathy was married to his late wife Linda McConathy from 1966 until her passing in 2021. They share two children, Dr. Jonathan Edward McConathy, a radiologist, and Dr. Suzy Lapi McConathy, a radiochemist. He also has one grandchild, Edward.
