Melvin M. Grumbach | |
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| Born | (1925-12-21)December 21, 1925 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 4, 2016(2016-10-04) (aged 90) |
| Nationality | American |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Pediatric endocrinology |
| Institutions | University of California, San Francisco |
Melvin Malcolm Grumbach (December 21, 1925 – October 4, 2016) was an Americanpediatrician and academic who specialized inpediatric endocrinology. Called Edward B. Shaw Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Emeritus at theUniversity of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, Grumbach was noted for his research and writing on the effect ofhormones and thecentral nervous system on growth and puberty and their disorders; the function of the human sex chromosomes; and disorders of sexual development.
After graduating fromNew Utrecht High School inBrooklyn, New York, and then attending Columbia College in New York City, Grumbach went on to earn his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons,Columbia University, in 1948. He completed his internship atMount Sinai Hospital in 1949 and his residency at Babies Hospital,Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in pediatrics under the direction ofRustin McIntosh in 1951. During theKorean War he served as a captain in theUnited States Air Force Medical Corps, with assignments atOak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies in Tennessee and atFort Detrick Biological Laboratories in Maryland. Following his military service, Grumbach did a fellowship withLawson Wilkins at Johns Hopkins. He then returned to Babies Hospital and Columbia University in 1955, becoming founding director of the Pediatric Endocrine Division at Babies Hospital. In 1966 Grumbach was recruited to theUniversity of California San Francisco as chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, and in 1983 he was named the first Edward B. Shaw Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics. Grumbach served as chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at University of California San Francisco for over two decades, transforming the department into one of the leading academic centers for pediatrics in the country. Grumbach stepped down as chairman of pediatrics in 1986 and retired in 1994, but he remained active in the field until December 2014.[1][2]
Grumbach made many seminal contributions the understanding of pediatric endocrinology including extensive studies on the development and function of the endocrine and neuroendocrine systems from fetal life through puberty, as well as studies of the hormonal and genetic effects on growth, bone maturation, puberty, sex determination and differentiation (and their disorders) and disease-causing pathology. He was a past president of theEndocrine Society, theAmerican Pediatric Society, the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairmen, and honorary president of the International Endocrine Society. From 1956 to 1990 he supervised the training of 82 fellows from 15 countries on five continents. No single individual trained as many leaders or had a broader impact on pediatric endocrinology. He died on October 4, 2016, of a heart attack.[3]
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