Kurt Julius Isselbacher

Kurt Julius Isselbacher (September 12, 1925 – July 18, 2019) was a German-born American physician and held the position of Mallinckrodt Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and director emeritus of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

Early life Isselbacher was born in Wirges, Germany, to Flori (Strauss), a homemaker, and Albert Isselbacher, a merchant. His family was Jewish. After suffering atrocities from the Nazis, they emigrated and took up residence in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Education After graduating high school in Portsmouth, Isselbacher attended Harvard College and then graduated from Harvard Medical School cum laude in 1950. After completing his residency in medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in 1953, he became a clinical and research fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Career In 1956, Isselbacher returned to MGH and Harvard and remained there for the remainder of his professional career. He also held the position of the Mallinckrodt Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and director emeritus of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973.

Academic and scholarly activities In 1953, while still a medical resident he published work supporting the association of asbestos exposure and cancer of the lung. While at the NIH, he discovered the enzymatic defect causing the hereditary disorder of galactosemia. This work led to the development of a test for this disorder which is now being used in routine screening of newborns. In addition, he elucidated the enzymatic mechanism for the formation of glucuronide conjugates, important for the detoxification of many compounds by the liver.

After returning from the NIH in 1956, at the age of 31 he was chosen to head the Gastrointestinal Unit at the MGH. Over the subsequent 30 years, his division became one of the leading centers of training, research and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases in the United States. the definition of enzymatic defects in absorptive disorders, delineations of biochemical mechanism of nutrient absorption, malabsorption, and protein synthesis, derangements of metabolism and immunologic aspects of hepatic gastrointestinal diseases. which is the highest recognition that this Association can bestow on one of its members and also an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Northwestern University.

Publications Isselbacher's memoir, Don't Call Me Cookie, was first published in 2008. Isselbacher published a second edition in 2012 that outlined his research endeavors in greater detail. The second edition of Don't Call Me Cookie was released as an e-book in 2019.

Isselbacher authored over 470 publications throughout his career as a physician-scientist and researcher.

Personal life Kurt Isselbacher resided in Newton, MA and spent his summers in Woods Hole, MA, where he conducted research and subsequently served as a trustee for the Marine Biological Laboratory. Isselbacher was married for 60 years to Rhoda Solin Isselbacher who died on November 6, 2015.