Derek LeRoith

Derek LeRoith, M.D., Ph.D is an endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine and the current Chief of the Hilda and J. Lester Gabrilove, M.D. Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease and Director of the Metabolism Institute of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He is an international expert in insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1).
LeRoith was the first to demonstrate the link between insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and cancer and is the current recipient of an NCI grant to study the relationship between cancer and type 2 diabetes. He is the author of more than 500 publications and an editor of more than 20 textbooks on endocrinology.

LeRoith was born in 1945 in South Africa. He earned both his M.B. Ch.B. and his Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town. In 1974, he became a fellow of the College of Physicians of South Africa, and, in 1975, he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. His post-doctoral training included a residency in pediatrics at the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Israel, an endocrine research fellowship at the University of Cape Town, and a residency in medicine and geriatrics at Middlesex Hospital in London.

In Israel, LeRoith held a lectureship in medicine and endocrinology at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In 1979, he joined the United States' National Institutes of Health and eventually became the Chief of its Diabetes Branch of the Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

LeRoith is a board member for the Council for the Advancement of Diabetes Research and Education and the Endocrine Fellows Foundation. He serves on the scientific advisory board of Medingo, Ltd. and is a past member of the national board of directors for the American Diabetes Association. He has served on the editorial board of 18 journals, including Endocrinology, Experimental Cell Research, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the American Journal of Physiology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He served on the review committees of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Diabetes Association.

• 1963 Medal for Physiology
• 1966 Medal for Obstetrics and Gynecology
• 1973 Bronte Stewart Award for Ph.D. Thesis
• 1996 British Endocrine Society Transatlantic Medal
• 1996 The Herman O. Mosenthal Memorial Lecture
• 2004 The Yogesh C. Patel Memorial Lecture
• 2008 Dell Fisher Visiting Professor, UCLA

• Endocrinology Journal

Partial list:

• Diabetes Mellitus: a Fundamental and Clinical text, Derek LeRoith (Editor), Simeon I. Taylor (Editor) and Jerrold M Olefsky (Editor), 2003 (Third Edition), ISBN 0-7817-4097-5
• Molecular Biology of Diabetes, Part I: Autoimmunity and Genetics; Insulin Synthesis and Secretion, Boris Draznin (Editor), Derek LeRoith (Editor), 1994, ISBN 0-89603-286-8
• Molecular Biology of Diabetes, Part II: Insulin Action, Effects on Gene Expression and Regulation, and Glucose Transport, Boris Draznin (Editor), Derek LeRoith (Editor), 1994, ISBN 0-89603-287-6
• Insulin-like Growth Factors: Molecular and Cellular Aspects, Derek LeRoith (Author), 1991, ISBN 0-8493-5712-8
• Controversies in Treating Diabetes: Clinical and Research Aspects (Contemporary Endocrinology), Derek LeRoith (Editor), Aaron I. Vinik (Editor), 2008, ISBN 1-58829-708-X

Partial list:

• Insulin sensitizing therapy attenuates type 2 diabetes-mediated mammary tumor progression. Fierz Y, Novosyadlyy R, Vijayakumar A, Yakar S, Leroith D. Diabetes. 3 December 2009. doi:10.2337/db09-1291 PMID 19959755
• High-efficient FLPo deleter mice in C57BL/6J background. Wu Y, Wang C, Sun H, LeRoith D, Yakar S. PLoS One. 26 November 2009;4(11):e8054. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008054 PMID 19956655
• Pediatric endocrinology: Part II. Foreword. LeRoith D. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2009 Dec;38(4):xi-xiii. doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2009.09.006 PMID 19944284
• Biological effects of growth hormone on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Vijayakumar A, Novosyadlyy R, Wu Y, Yakar S, Leroith D. Growth Horm IGF Res. 30 September 2009. doi:10.1016/j.ghir.2009.09.002 PMID 19800274
• Pediatric endocrinology: part I. Foreword. Leroith D. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2009 Sep;38(3):xi-xiii. doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2009.07.004 PMID 19716998
• Physical and functional interaction between polyoma virus middle T antigen and insulin and IGF-I receptors is required for oncogene activation and tumour initiation. Novosyadlyy R, Vijayakumar A, Lann D, Fierz Y, Kurshan N, LeRoith D. Oncogene. 1 October 2009;28(39):3477-86. Epub 20 July 2009. doi:10.1038/onc.2009.209 PMID 19617901
• Gender differences in metabolic disorders. LeRoith D. Gend Med. 2009;6(Suppl 1):1-3. doi:10.1016/j.genm.2009.02.003 PMID 19318215
• Elevated levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I in serum rescue the severe growth retardation of IGF-1 null mice. Wu Y, Sun H, Yakar S, LeRoith D" Endocrinology 2009 Sep;150(9):4395-403. Epub 4 June 2009. doi:10.1210/en.2009-0272 PMID 19497975
• Apolipoprotein E deficiency abrogates insulin resistance in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Kawashima Y, Chen J, Sun H, Lann D, Hajjar RJ, Yakar S, Leroith D" Diabetologia 2009 Jul;52(7):1434-41. Epub 13 May 2009. doi:10.1007/s00125-009-1378-8 PMID 19436992
• Basic aspects and clinical applicability in the field of lipidology. Foreword. LeRoith D. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2009 Mar;38(1):xiii-xv. doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2009.01.015 PMID 19217508
• Type 2 diabetic mice demonstrate slender long bones with increased fragility secondary to increased osteoclastogenesis. Kawashima Y, Fritton JC, Yakar S, Epstein S, Schaffler MB, Jepsen KJ, LeRoith D" Bone 2009 Apr;44(4):648-55. Epub 24 December 2008. doi:10.1016/j.bone.2008.12.012 PMID 19150422
• Murine osteosarcoma primary tumour growth and metastatic progression is maintained after marked suppression of serum insulin-like growth factor I. Hong SH, Briggs J, Newman R, Hoffman K, Mendoza A, LeRoith D, Helman L, Yakar S, Khanna C. Int J Cancer. 1 May 2009;124(9):2042-9. doi:10.1002/ijc.24169 PMID 19132750
• Rationale and strategies for early detection and management of diabetic kidney disease. Radbill B, Murphy B, LeRoith D. Mayo Clin Proc. 2008 Dec;83(12):1373-81. Review. doi:10.1016/S0025-6196(11)60786-6 PMID 19046557
• The role of endocrine insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin in breast cancer. Lann D, LeRoith D. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2008 Dec;13(4):371-9. Epub 22 November 2008. Review. doi:10.1007/s10911-008-9100-x PMID 19030972