Melvin Malcolm Grumbach (December 21, 1925 – October 4, 2016) was an American

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

and academic who specialized in

pediatric endocrinology Pediatric endocrinology (British: Paediatric) is a medical subspecialty dealing with disorders of the endocrine glands, such as variations of physical growth and sexual development in childhood, diabetes and many more. By age, pediatric endocrino ...

. Called Edward B. Shaw Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Emeritus at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

School of Medicine, Grumbach was noted for his research and writing on the effect of

hormones A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones a ...

and the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain, spinal cord and retina. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity o ...

on growth and puberty and their disorders; the function of the human sex chromosomes; and disorders of sexual development.

Career

After graduating from

New Utrecht High School New Utrecht High School is a public high school located in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education under District 20 and serves students of grades 9 to 12. A tot ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, 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 Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, in 1948. He completed his internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in 1949 and his residency at Babies Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in pediatrics under the direction of

Rustin McIntosh Rustin McIntosh (September 29, 1894February 15, 1986) was an American pediatrician. From 1930 until 1960, he was the chief of pediatrics at the Babies Hospital of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital and the Reuben S. Carpentier Professor of Pediatrics ...

in 1951. During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

he served as a captain in the United States Air Force Medical Corps, with assignments at

Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of American universities headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with offices in Arvada, Colorado and Cincinnati, Ohio and staff at other locations across the country. History The organiza ...

in Tennessee and at

Fort Detrick Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, it has hosted m ...

Biological Laboratories in Maryland. Following his military service, Grumbach did a fellowship with

Lawson Wilkins Lawson Wilkins (March 6, 1894 - September 27, 1963) was an American pediatric endocrinologist. He is known along with John Money for pioneering surgeries for visibly intersex newborns. At the time, intersex anatomy was understood virtually exclus ...

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 the

University of California San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

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.Miller, Walter L. (December 2016)
"In Memoriam: Melvin M. Grumbach (1925–2016)"
''

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

'', Vol. 157, Issue 12, pp. 4499–4501. Retrieved 6 October 2017. 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 the

Endocrine Society The Endocrine Society is a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, founded in 1916 as The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions. The official name of the organization was changed t ...

, the

American Pediatric Society The American Pediatric Society (APS) is the first pediatric society established in North America. Created in 1887, the APS pursues a vision of an engaged, inclusive, and impactful community of pediatric thought leaders. The APS mission is to shape t ...

, 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.Bai, Nina (7 October 2016)
"Melvin Malcolm Grumbach, Renowned Pediatric Endocrinologist, Dies at 90"

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

News Center. Retrieved 6 October 2017.

Awards and honors

* 1966 Joseph Mather Smith Prize from

* 1971

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

Medal, Paris * 1971 Borden Award for Research in Pediatrics,

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States. It is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and maintains an office in Washington, D.C. The AAP has published hundreds of poli ...

* 1980 Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award, the

* 1984 Elected Member,

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

* 1985 Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

* 1988 Alumni Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Medicine from

College of Physicians and Surgeons * 1991 D.M. honoris causa,

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, Switzerland * 1992 Fred Conrad Koch Award and Medal for Research from the

(shared with Selna Kaplan) * 1995 Elected Member,

* 1995 Elected Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* 1996 Lifetime Achievement Medical Education Award from the

* 1997

John Howland Award The John Howland Award is the highest honor bestowed by the American Pediatric Society (APS). Named in honor of John Howland (1873–1926), the award, with its accompanying medal, is presented annually by the American Pediatric Society for "dis ...

from the

* 2000 D. honoris causa, University René Descartes, Paris V * 2006 Judson J. Van Wyk Prize for Career Achievement in Pediatric Endocrinology from the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society * 2008 D. honoris causa,

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, Greece * 2010 Recipient of the

Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grumbach, Melvin M. 1925 births 2016 deaths University of California, San Francisco faculty American pediatric endocrinologists Physicians from New York City Military personnel from New York City Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences United States Air Force Medical Corps officers United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War Members of the National Academy of Medicine Recipients of the John Howland Award