Obituary for David Kleinberg

Dear friends,

As of Friday 27 January 2017 our friend David passed away leaving all of us shocked and incredulous. David L. Kleinberg was Professor of Medicine and Director of the Neuroendocrine Unit at New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, and Consultant at the Veterans Affairs, New York Harbor Health Care System, NY. David graduated from the University of Miami Leonard M Miller School of Medicine and completed his residency at New York Presbyterian. He was a prominent member of the international endocrine community, having served on the editorial board for the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pituitary and Endocrine Reviews. He co-authored the anterior pituitary chapter in the 10th to13th editions of Williams Textbook of Endocrinology.

David was a brilliant researcher, having shown that prolactin and growth hormone were separate molecules in humans, and he highly contributed to the understanding of the reciprocal role of growth hormone and prolactin in mammary gland development. He was currently evaluating the potential of IGF-I inhibition in breast cancer prevention.  As a clinician he was much appreciated for his great knowledge in the pituitary field.

I personally remember his expert contribution to the preparation of the clinical guidelines on hyperprolactinemia of The Pituitary Society. His article on the pathophysiology of galactorrhea remains the standard work on that subject. He was a recognized authority on growth hormone deficiency and the treatment of acromegaly and other pituitary tumors.

David was past President and current Secretary-Treasurer of The Pituitary Society. Lastly, but not least, David was a great man. I had the honour to be one his friends and I want to remember him as a charming gentleman who always had a smile and a word of support for everybody - particularly when things were not going well. He was a natural leader and a master of style and life for many of us who had the unique opportunity to share part of their life with him.

Andrea Giustina
The Pituitary Society President

AJ van der Lely
European Society of Endocrinology President