Roland Stocker

Roland Stocker (born 5 October 1956 in Switzerland) is a Swiss Australian biochemist who discovered the antioxidant activity of bilirubin. He is a former Olympic rower and has represented Switzerland at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Stocker was awarded a Diplom [im] Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik (Dipl. Natw.), or Diploma in/of Natural Science, from the ETH Zurich in 1981 and a Ph.D. from the Australian National University in 1985.

Stocker has made significant contributions to the understanding of the molecular action of Alpha-Tocopherol (vitamin E) during the oxidation of lipoproteins, the antioxidant activities of ubiquinol-10 in lipoproteins, the contribution of oxidation of low-density lipoprotein to atherosclerosis, the understanding of how antioxidants and heme oxygenase-1 protect against atherosclerosis, and the contribution of tryptophan metabolism by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase to kynurenine in the regulation of vascular tone in inflammation.

Stocker is recognised as a "redox pioneer".

Formerly, Stocker held an appointment as a professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. Currently, he is Professor of Vascular Biology at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

Stocker lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife, with whom he has two daughters.

Stocker's twin brother, Peter, was also an Olympic rower for Switzerland.