Abstract
Dr Gerold Morton Grodsky (Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Medicine, University of California, San Francisco [UCSF], Emeritus, Active) was a science professor and bon vivant, who found humor in life and had a desire to provide warmth and support to friends and professional associates. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 18, 1927, as the son of Louis G. Grodsky and Goldie (nee)Feldacker. He died on Thursday, December 29, 2022, surrounded by his loved ones in San Francisco. He was 95 years old, but lived until the end like a much younger man.
In grammar and high school, he was a committed and eclectic student, and a total nerd before the term was invented. He was still invited to all the parties because his father was a local soft-drink bottler, so Jerry supplied the free soda. Working with his father in the factory stimulated his early interest in chemistry. At age 17, he was sent to the University of Illinois for the V-12 Naval Officer Training Program and graduated Summa Cum Laude in Chemistry, as a naval ensign. It was during this period that he expanded his world to socializing, amateur theater, and, to his secret life-long delight, as head cheerleader at the University of Illinois. Dr Grodsky obtained a master’s degree in biochemistry at Illinois and his PhD in biochemistry at Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he met and fell in love with Kayla Deane Wolfe, who became his wife for 50 years before her death in 2003. After Berkeley, he, with his wife and less than one-year old daughter, Andrea, spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at Cambridge University, England. It was here that he expanded his interests in the chemistry and measurement of insulin. While most other young Cambridge postdocs were looking for that first Assistant Professorship anywhere (this was before the Biotech explosion), Jerry and his wife put living in the SF Bay Area as their first priority. Despite his primary interest in insulin, he accepted a junior research position at UCSF to study bilirubin metabolism. Two years later, he joined the Metabolic Unit, a precursor to the current UCSF Diabetes Center. It was here that Dr Grodsky returned to his primary interest in insulin and was exposed to issues of clinical diabetes. This resulted in him being a PhD basic scientist with the then rare opportunity to work across basic and clinical disciplines.
In the early 1960s, Dr Grodsky was the developer of the first precipitating radio immunoassay for insulin, which permitted the accurate, specific measurement of insulin in biological fluids or tissues. His laboratory focused on the mechanisms involved in the synthesis, storage, and secretion of insulin, with emphasis on the kinetics and quantitative relationships of these mechanisms. From these studies came the description of the fast and slow phases of insulin release, and the hypothesis that insulin is stored in compartments of differing availability for release. The fast phase of insulin release was shown to be vital in the maintenance of glucose balance, and its impairment is an early defect in type 2 diabetes. This rapid insulin release is being incorporated into the design of algorithms for artificial pancreas, to design faster acting beta-cell stimulants, and for fast-absorbing insulin preparations. An early classic finding was that insulin levels were high in nondiabetic obesity, but the underlying characteristic of type 2 diabetes was impaired insulin secretion. Other areas of research activity included the demonstration of insulin auto-antibodies and their contribution to beta-cell destruction. Dr Grodsky published more than 230 papers, spanning a period of 60 years. Many papers published more than 50 years ago are still being quoted, not because of historical interest but for the currently applicable information they contain. Dr Grodsky was an invited lecturer in more than 25 countries and was a visiting professor, for a year each, at the University of Geneva and the University of Paris (VII).
Dr Grodsky was one of the founders of Diabetes Technology Society. He recognized the value of applying basic science to the development of engineered products that can benefit people with diabetes. His work in elucidating fast and slow phases of insulin release has been critically important to the algorithms used by current automated insulin delivery (AID) systems (also known as artificial pancreas systems). Engineers are now applying his landmark discovery of measuring insulin in body fluids toward next-generation AID systems to better adjust insulin dosing. He was the Founding Associate Editor of two diabetes technology journals, including Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (JDST). He was a very helpful advisor to the JDST editorial board and staff of the journal and always had a solution to editorial and policy questions. “I am grateful to the scientific assistance that Dr Grodsky provided to me for many years, and he was a major figure in the development of the field of diabetes technology,” said David Klonoff, MD, President of Diabetes Technology Society and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF.
Dr Grodsky was awarded the Rumbough Science Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), which further acknowledges his research contributions with the annual Grodsky Basic Science Award. He was the recipient of an RH Williams/r. Levine Award, an NIH Merit Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award (UCSF). In 2010, UCSF created the Gerold Grodsky, PhD Chair in Diabetes Research. In 2013, he was awarded The Paul Lacy Lecture and Prize. Dr Grodsky has consulted or served on the advisory boards of a variety of start-up biotechnology companies and large pharmaceutical companies, in both the United States and abroad. Dr Grodsky formally retired as a Full Professor of Biochemistry & Medicine (Over scale) in 1990, but remained fully active at UCSF until 1991 when he closed his laboratory. He continued as a formal consultant to the Diabetes Center until 2020 at age 92. “I have been younger longer than almost anyone” was something he liked to quote.
Because of his pleasant demeanor and magnetic joyous personality, he was loved and admired by all who knew him. This is especially true of his students, colleagues, staff, and business associates.
Besides his prestigious career in science, Jerry had many interests and hobbies. Just this past summer at age 95, he went fishing in Alaska, and his fondest memories are of fishing trips in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana with his father and brother-in-law, Hubert and Elliott Wolfe. He was a sharp shooter and collected antique black powder rifles. He loved boating and sailing and was a member of the San Francisco Yacht club. He was an avid tennis player and was a member at California tennis club and Meadowood in St Helena.
Jerry was predeceased in death by his wife, Kayla; his daughter, Jamie; and his brother, Myron. He is survived by his daughter, Andrea Huber of Bethesda Md; sister-in-law, Prisella Grodsky of St Louis; granddaughter, Sophie (Moise Shifra) from Bethesda; grandsons, Michael and Stephen Huber; great-grandchildren, Moishale and Hadassah; sister-in-law, Judith Wolfe of Salt Lake City; and many nieces, nephews, friends, associates, and previous students.
He is grateful for the 20 years of love and companionship of Roberta Sherman, whom he shared a love of theater, travel, art, great cuisine, and spending time in Saint Helena. The family wishes to thank his caretaker, Eddilee, for making him comfortable at the end. The family held a private funeral.
In lieu of flowers, please make any contributions to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International or the Diabetes Center at UCSF.