Leo Lutwak (March 27, 1928 - February 23, 2006) was a

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

, and

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

specializing in

bariatric Bariatrics is a discipline that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity, encompassing both obesity medicine and bariatric surgery. Terminology The term ''bariatrics'' was coined around 1965,Dictionary.com, based on Random ...

s. He was a retired medical officer with the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

(FDA).

Life

Born in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, Lutwak attended the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, graduating cum laude, followed by the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

(master's degree in biochemistry, 1946), the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in Ann Arbor (Ph.D. biochemistry 1951), and

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. It is the sixth-oldest m ...

(M.D. 1956). After working for the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, he briefly worked in Los Angeles, CA; Akron, OH; and Huntsville, AL. From there he started work with the FDA in 1989. During his time there, he raised early concerns about

fen-phen The medication, drug combination fenfluramine/phentermine, usually called fen-phen, is an anti-obesity medication that is no longer widely available. It was sold in the early 1990s, and utilized two anorectics. Fenfluramine was marketed by Americ ...

, an anti-obesity treatment found to increase risk of heart disease. He also worked at Cornell University, studying the role of calcium in osteoporosis and the physiological effects of weightlessness. After the death of his first wife, Cecile Kroshinsky, he remarried. His second wife later divorced him. He died in 2006. His surviving family includes his sister and his seven children: Mark, Diane, Paul, Jean, Robert, David, and Aviva.

External links

References

1928 births 2006 deaths American biochemists American endocrinologists American nutritionists City College of New York alumni Food and Drug Administration people Scientists from the Bronx University of Michigan alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Yale School of Medicine alumni {{US-physician-stub