Ingbar, Sidney H.

Sidney Harold Ingbar (1925-1988), MD 1947, Harvard Medical School, was an endocrinologist and physician at Boston City Hospital and the Thorndike Laboratory at Beth Israel Hospital. He was also a William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research areas included thyroid physiology and pathophysiology, the role of iodine in controlling thyroid regulation, and the prevention of thyroid disease, especially in underdeveloped countries.

Sidney Harold Ingbar (SHI), MD, Chief of Endocrinology at Beth Israel Hospital (BIH), Director of the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory (TML) at BIH, and William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), was an endocrinologist who produced original work on every aspect of thyroid function. He attended UCLA from 1941 to 1943. He received the MD, magna cum laude, from HMS in 1947.

Following graduation from HMS, SHI completed a residency at Boston City Hospital (BCH). Supported by HMS and first BCH, then BIH, the TML accommodated SHI’s research projects for thirty-five years. He was appointed Research Fellow at the TML in 1949, and then after brief military service, SHI returned to BCH in 1953 to head the endocrine services. He was appointed BCH’s Program Director of the Harvard Clinical Research Center in 1962, and Physician-in-Charge of the Outpatient Endocrine Clinic in 1963. SHI was named Associate Director of the TML at BCH in 1963. SHI held these positions until leaving Boston in 1972.

In 1972, SHI relocated to California, and from 1972-1974 served as chief of endocrinology and metabolism and associate chief for research and education at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Francisco. He also served as Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Academic Development at the University of California at San Francisco. SHI returned to Boston in 1974 and became Director of the newly reorganized TML at BIH. He simultaneously accepted the BIH Chief of Endocrinology post, and held both appointments until his death in 1988.

SHI's affiliation with HMS spanned most of his career. He was first appointed Teaching Fellow in Medicine in 1948, and rose steadily through the academic ranks to become Research Fellow and Instructor in Medicine in 1953, Assistant Professor in 1958 and William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine in 1969. When SHI returned to Harvard in 1974, he assumed the rank of Professor of Medicine, and was re-appointed William B. Castle Professor of Medicine in 1976. He held this post until his death in 1988.

SHI served as a lieutenant with the Army Medical Corps Department of Biophysics at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., from 1951 to 1953. From 1955 until 1963, he was an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. For eight months during 1956-1957, SHI conducted research at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, England. In 1972, he became a Senior Medical Investigator for the Veterans Administration.

SHI was a leading thyroid specialist. During his career, he was a principal investigator and acknowledged authority during the most prolific period in the history of thyroid research. His scientific contributions included original work on every aspect of thyroid function, and prevention of thyroid disease in underdeveloped countries through iodination of water supplies. SHI’s presence was constantly sought at conferences and laboratories in the US and abroad. At TML, he recruited, trained, and nurtured the careers of over 100 young scientists. Many of these fellows came from overseas, especially Japan and other Asian countries, and many became prominent and prolific scientists in their own right.

SHI authored or co-authored over 350 articles for professional publication, and edited both Contemporary Endocrinology, vols. 1 and 2. He also edited the most widely-used textbook on the thyroid gland, The Thyroid: a Fundamental and Clinical Text, which was originally authored by Sidney C. Werner, then jointly co-authored and edited by Werner and SHI. SHI co-authored later editions of this text with Lewis Braverman. Article topics were largely based on the results of his laboratory work on cell growth and hormones. He was a member of the editorial boards of Endocrinology (1957-1958), New England Journal of Medicine (1967-1970) and the Journal of Clinical Investigation (1968-1972). He was Editor-in-Chief of Medical Grand Rounds (1983-1987), a collaborative journal by Plenum Publishing Corporation. He was also a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Endocrinologic Investigation (1983-1988), and co-editor of Hormone and Metabolic Research (1983-1988).

SHI maintained memberships in many professional societies. He was active in the Endocrine Society, receiving the Ernst Oppenheimer Award (1965), and becoming President of the Society (1985-1986). He was also President of the American Thyroid Association (1976-1977), and Chairman of the Endocrinology and Metabolic Examination Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine (1975-1977). He received numerous awards and fellowships and was active in associations including the American Society of Clinical Investigation, American Association of Professors, Interurban Clinical Club, and the National Institutes of Health.

Sidney Ingbar died on 6 October 1988.