The functionality of HDL particles, which may involve preventing or resolving arterial wall plaque, is difficult to measure and is a key area for 21st-century research.

“peter in our lifetime there will never be an affordable reproducible uh high throughput way of evaluating any people are hanging their hats now on the ability of hdl's to efflux cholesterol from a cell and hey if an hdl can suck some sterols out of your foam cells yeah i'm kind of thinking that's pretty good but it's probably a minuscule function of the hundred other functions that hdls can do”

“presuming again hdls must perform some function in the human body and part of that function might be either preventing or putting out arterial wall plaque fires that have many uh ideologies how can we measure what peter referred to as the functionality of the hdl particle”