Alexander Marble (February 2, 1902 – September 13, 1992) was an American

diabetologist Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of the ...

who spent the majority of his career at the

Joslin Diabetes Center Joslin Diabetes Center is the world's largest diabetes research center, diabetes clinic, and provider of diabetes education. It is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Among the Harvard Med ...

Life and career

Marble was born in 1902 in

Troy, Kansas Troy is a city in and the county seat of Doniphan County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 964. History Troy is part of the St. Joseph, MO–KS Metropolitan Statistical Area. Troy was platte ...

. He attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, completing a BA in chemistry in 1922 and an MA in

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

and

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

in 1924. He graduated from

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

in 1927. After graduating from Harvard, Marble interned at

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

then returned to Boston to complete a residency at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

. He was awarded a traveling fellowship in the early 1930s to study in Austria, Germany and England, including at the laboratory of

Henry Hallett Dale Sir Henry Hallett Dale (9 June 1875 – 23 July 1968) was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve pulses (neurotransmission) he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Ph ...

. His research subjects at this time included

pentosuria Pentosuria, a component of Garrod’s tetrad, is a condition where the sugar L-xylulose, a pentose, presents in the urine in unusually high concentrations. It was characterized as an inborn error of carbohydrate metabolism in 1908. It is associa ...

glycosuria Glycosuria is the excretion of glucose into the urine. Ordinarily, urine contains no glucose because the kidneys are able to reabsorb all of the filtered glucose from the tubular fluid back into the bloodstream. Glycosuria is nearly always cause ...

xylose Xylose ( , , "wood") is a sugar first isolated from wood, and named for it. Xylose is classified as a monosaccharide of the aldopentose type, which means that it contains five carbon atoms and includes an aldehyde functional group. It is deriv ...

metabolism, and

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most important compo ...

. Upon his return to the United States in 1932, he was recruited by Elliott P. Joslin to join his

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

clinic in Boston, where Marble was given his own laboratory and was appointed Director of Research. During his time at the

, Marble became known as an authority on the treatment of

diabetic ketoacidosis Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a potentially life-threatening acute complication of diabetes mellitus. Signs and symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, deep gasping breathing, increased urination, weakness, confusion and occasionally ...

. He later served as president of the Joslin Diabetes Center from 1967 to 1976. He was a professor of medicine at Harvard, and served as president of the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...

and honorary president of the

International Diabetes Federation The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organisation of over 240 national diabetes associations in more than 161 countries and territories. It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Organization IDF is divided into seven reg ...

. He received the Banting Medal of the American Diabetes Association in 1967. During the Second World War, Marble served in the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least o ...

, first at

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

and later as Chief of Medicine at Harmon General Hospital. After the conclusion of the war, he remained a consultant to the Army Reserve for another three decades, eventually being promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. While in the Army, he wrote a series of publications about tropical diseases such as

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

in returned servicemen. He was married to Beula Marble, a

dietitian A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

and president of the

American Dietetic Association The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a multi-unit enterprise that includes a 501(c)(6) trade association in the United States. With over 112,000 members, the association claims to be the largest organization of food and nutrition professiona ...

, with whom he had one daughter. He died in 1992 in a retirement village in

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,161 at th2022 United States census History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information from Abram Engl ...

. An obituary in ''

Diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

'' described Marble as one of "the giant trees among the diabetes sequoias".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marble, Alexander 1902 births 1992 deaths American diabetologists Harvard Medical School faculty Massachusetts General Hospital residents University of Kansas alumni People from Troy, Kansas Physicians from Kansas Harvard Medical School alumni Burials at Walnut Hills Cemetery (Brookline, Massachusetts)