After more than 37 years of leading the section of pediatric endocrinology & diabetes for the Department of Pediatrics and Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, William (Bill) Tamborlane, MD, is stepping down as section chief. Stuart Weinzimer, MD, has been named interim section chief effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Tamborlane will remain on the Department of Pediatrics faculty.
Dr. Tamborlane received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he completed his residency in pediatrics before coming to Yale as a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric endocrinology. Since joining the faculty in 1977, he has played a critical role in the development and success of the department, YSM, and the field of pediatric endocrinology & diabetes at large.
His scientific accomplishments over the past 45 years have established his international reputation as one of the most highly regarded clinical scientists in childhood diabetes and related disorders. He has published more than 1,000 original articles, chapters, and reviews in diabetes. He pioneered studies in the development of insulin pump therapy, direction of the Yale Center in the NIDDK-sponsored DCCT/EDIC and GRADE studies, and investigations of diabetes-induced defects in counterregulatory hormone responses to hypoglycemia.
The prime focus of Dr. Tamborlane’s work has been in patient-oriented studies in type 1 and type 2 diabetes and related metabolic and endocrine disorders. The hallmark of his research has been to overcome metabolic, physiologic, and psychological obstacles to successful management of diabetes. Current research effort is focused on applying recent advances in diabetes technology towards the development of an artificial pancreas for individuals with type 1 diabetes, as well as the study of new treatments of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Tamborlane is the recipient of many awards and honors and is frequently listed in publications of distinction, including American Men and Women of Science, The Best Doctors in America, America’s Top Doctors, and America’s Top Pediatricians. In 2006 and 2011, he was awarded the Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine Award for Excellence in Clinical Research in Type 1 Diabetes by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He has also received the 2009 Diabetes Technology Society’s Diabetes Technology Leadership Award, the 2010 American Diabetes Association Outstanding Physician Clinician Award, the 2014 National Award for Career Achievement and Contributions to Clinical, the Translational Science by ACRT/SCTS/AFMR, the 2014 Prize for Achievement by the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, the 2017 American Diabetes Association award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research, and the 2022 Senior Investigator Award of the Pediatric Endocrinology Society.
He has served on the FDA’s Endocrine Advisory Board, on the National Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association, was the first Steering Committee Chair of the Diabetes Research in Children Network, is the Founder and Chair of the Pediatric Diabetes Consortium and former Vice Chair (for Pediatrics) of the T1D Exchange Clinic Registry.
In addition to his own clinical practice, Dr. Tamborlane leads a multidisciplinary team of physicians, diabetes nurse educators, dieticians and social workers that care for more than 1,000 children, adolescents, and young adults with diabetes. His team approach utilizes advanced technology, including continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps, and has guided the section to great success under his leadership. Yale’s Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Research Group, which Dr. Tamborlane is a part of, continues to be at the forefront of virtually every new advance in the treatment of diabetes.
Under Dr. Tamborlane's leadership, Yale New Haven Children's Hospital has ranked among the top ten Best Children's Hospitals for Diabetes & Endocrinology for many years. A hospital's score is based on various measures of clinical care, like management of conditions such as pediatric type 1 diabetes, weight disorders and hypothyroidism, infection prevention, and adequacy of nurse staffing. The remaining percent reflects expert opinion of pediatric specialists and subspecialists who responded to surveys and recommended the hospital for serious cases in pediatric endocrinology.
Dr. Tamborlane has been the mentor of many young physician scientists in their training and career development in clinical research in diabetes. He has been an incredible colleague and friend. And as Bill would tell you, perhaps most importantly, some of the most gratifying moments of his career have been when former patients tell him how much they appreciated the care they received from his team when they were children.
He will work with Dr. Weinzimer over the coming months to transition leadership responsibilities.