NIH Eminent Scientist Profiles

Gerald D. "Jerry" Aurbach (1927–1991)

Gerald D. Aurbach, M.D., was the first to isolate parathyroid hormone, one of the major regulators of blood calcium. He began his NIH career in 1959 as a research associate and ultimately rose to become chief of the Metabolic Diseases Branch in what is now known as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Dr. Aurbach won the prestigious Canada Gairdner Award in 1983 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1986. He was killed in a random act of violence in November 1991 at age 64, struck by a rock thrown from a passing car.

The Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum has gathered the following resources concerning Dr. Aurbach:

NIH Publications
• Tribute in NIH Record, 1992: https://nihrecord.nih.gov/PDF_Archive/1992%20PDFs/19920204.pdf
• Announcement of award reception in NIH Record, 1981: https://nihrecord.nih.gov/PDF_Archive/1981%20PDFs/19810708.pdf

Journal Publications
• Tribute by John Bilezikian in Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2009: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbmr.5650070102/pdf
• Tribute by John Potts and Allen Spiegel in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2009: http://press.endocrine.org/doi/pdf/10.1210/jcem.75.5.1430101
• Tribute by Allen Spiegel in Vitamins and Hormones, 1993: https://books.google.com/books?id=6SwJCQGc1UAC&pg=PR11&dq=gerald+aurbach&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjc84OK6pjNAhVL1CYKHeSzBV0Q6AEIOTAE#v=onepage&q=gerald%20aurbach&f=false

Non-journal Publications
• Excerpt biography in D. Lynn Loriaux’s A Biographical History of Endocrinology, 2016: https://books.google.com/books?id=B-6hCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=biographical+history+of+endocrinology&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0_sno8JjNAhVL4CYKHU0VBKoQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q=biographical%20history%20of%20endocrinology&f=false
• Biographical memoir by Ira Pastan for National Academy of Science, 2009: http://www.nap.edu/read/12562/chapter/2
• Obituary in New York Times, 1991: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/06/obituaries/gerald-aurbach-64-us-health-researcher.html
• Obituary in Washington Post, 1991: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1991/11/09/gerald-aurbach-dies/96eab81e-63c3-4dd8-bb85-2dcb3571fbd1