Robert F. Bradley, M.D., Former President of Joslin Diabetes Center, Dies at Age 83
Oversaw First Major Expansion of Joslin; Advocated for Advanced Treatment Methods of Type 2 Diabetes
BOSTON — October 14, 2003 — Robert F. Bradley, M.D., former president of Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, died Sunday, October 12, at the age of 83, in Sherrill House, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
Dr. Bradley retired from Joslin in 1987 after 38 years of dedicated service, the last 10 as president. He was an outspoken advocate for patients and championed the use of oral agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
“Dr. Bradley was a remarkable clinician and instrumental in overcoming controversy about the use of oral agents to treat people with type 2 diabetes, which ultimately improved the lives of millions of people” said Joslin President and Director C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Under his leadership, Joslin significantly expanded its role in diabetes research and care and his contributions to the field were numerous.”
Dr. Bradley began his Joslin tenure in 1950, serving as a senior physician, working closely with Dr. Elliott P. Joslin, the Center’s founder. He served as Medical Director from 1968 to 1977 and during the same time was Vice President of the Joslin Diabetes Foundation. (The Joslin Diabetes Foundation and Joslin Clinic became known as Joslin Diabetes Center in April 1981.)
Dr. Bradley oversaw the completion of Joslin’s first major expansion, the addition of the Howard F. Root Wing of research and treatment facilities, in 1976. He also oversaw the creation of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliated Centers Program, of which the first affiliate opened in Florida in March 1987.
Dr. Bradley served as editor of the Joslin Textbook of Diabetes and as an expert witness in the infamous Claus von Bulow murder retrial in 1985.
Dr. Bradley served as President of the Massachusetts Society of Internal Medicine and the New England Diabetes Association. He was appointed to the first National Diabetes Advisory Board of the National Institutes of Health (1977-1980), and was also a member of the Lipid Metabolism Advisory Committee, National Heart and Lung Institute (NIH) and several work groups of the National Commission on Diabetes.
He was an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a Senior Associate in Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. An internist by training, he was Section Chief for Endocrinology at the former New England Deaconess Hospital. He published over 50 papers in medical journals, and led the Diabetes Research and Training Center effort at Joslin as associate and program director.
Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1920 he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Yale University in 1941 and graduated from Yale University School of Medicine in 1943. He did his training at Lahey Clinic, New England Deaconess Hospital and Joslin Clinic. In 1981 the Lahey Clinic Foundation honored him with the Alumni Achievement Award.
He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, and the USNR in 1953. In 1945 he received the Presidential Unit Citation, First Marine Division.
A longtime resident of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, his wife Betty Savacool passed away in 1996. He is survived by a son, David Benton Bradley of Boston; and four daughters, Robin Tritta of Norton, Massachusetts; Pamela Roche of Raynham, Massachusetts; Amy Palmer of Wrentham, Massachusetts; and Susan Bradley of Georgetown, Massachusetts; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service and celebration of Dr. Bradley's life will be held on Friday, October 17 at 11:00 a.m. at The Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, 207 Washington St., Route 16, Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions in Dr. Bradley’s memory be made to The Robert F. Bradley Research Fund, Joslin Diabetes Center, Development Office, One Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02215.
