Jacob Robbins; NIH Scientist Known for Thyroid Research

Jacob Robbins first set foot on the eighth floor of the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health in 1954. Claiming one of only two working labs available to him in the year-old hospital, he immediately launched what would become groundbreaking work on the function of the thyroid and the treatment of thyroid cancer, particularly cancer caused by exposure to radioactivity.

On May 12, Dr. Robbins died of cardiac arrest -- at the Clinical Center, not far from where his NIH work had begun 54 years earlier. He was 85.

"He died surrounded by the work he treasured," said Griffin P. Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, or NIDDK.

Dr. Robbins and a colleague, Joseph "Ed" Rall -- who died in February -- had begun their thyroid research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before both arrived at NIH.

They were the first to demonstrate the biologically active form of the thyroid hormone. They are known for their formulation of the free thyroxine hypothesis, which proposed that the concentration of free hormone in the blood is directly related to the hormone's action on cells and metabolism.

"It was extremely important for understanding how to give thyroid hormone as medication and how the thyroid functions in the body," said Phillip Gorden, a former director of NIDDK.

Dr. Robbins, known as Jack, was also recognized for his work on pediatric thyroid cancer resulting from radioactive fallout. He and Rall did follow-up surveillance on survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and studied Marshall Island inhabitants inadvertently exposed to radioactive fallout from U.S. hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific. They also studied thousands of children who were exposed to radiation after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine and helped devise therapies to prevent thyroid disease in similar catastrophes.

Dr. Robbins published more than 260 papers over the course of his career and was active in a number of exchange programs that brought thyroid specialists from Europe and Japan to NIH.

He was born in Yonkers, N.Y., and received an undergraduate degree in 1944 and a medical degree in 1947, both from Cornell University. In 1955, he received the Van Meter Prize, which recognizes a young investigator for outstanding contributions to research on the thyroid gland or related subjects.

He joined NIH after completing his residency at Sloan-Kettering, and in 1963 he became chief of the Clinical Endocrinology Branch. He was a member of the Public Health Service for more than 40 years.

In addition, he was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Thyroid Association and other professional groups. He was also active with the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, where he served on the board of directors. He received the Public Health Service Meritorious Service Medal in 1971.

Friends and former colleagues recalled that Dr. Robbins was a gentle, soft-spoken man who enjoyed puns. His scholarly reserve, they said, complemented the more gregarious Rall, his longtime friend and colleague.

Dr. Robbins loved classical music. For many years, he and his wife, a professional cellist, hosted New Year's Eve musicales in which four quartets played in different rooms of their Bethesda home.

He retired in 1995 but kept an office at NIH and continued to stay busy with his research, including work on the long-term effects of the Chernobyl disaster.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Jean Robbins of Bethesda; three children, Alice Robbins of Amherst, Mass., Susan Robbins of Shelburne Falls, Mass., and Mark Robbins of Seattle; a sister; a brother; and three grandchildren.