The long and rich tradition in endocrine-metabolic research at Washington University School of Medicine can be traced to the Nobel Prize-winning work of the late Drs. Carl and Gerty Cori.
For over 100 years, St. Louis Children’s Hospital has played a major role in the care of children with diabetes. Under the leadership of Dr. Alexis Hartman in the 1920s, our program was the first pediatric institution in the U.S. to use insulin to treat children with diabetes mellitus. Since then, through patient care, medical education and biomedical research, we have been leaders in the management of diabetes in youth and have participated in many nationally recognized trials.
The Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism within the Department of Pediatrics began as an academic division in 1967. Under the initial direction of Drs. Virginia V. Weldon and Anthony S. Pagliara, the division was one of the first to combine patient care, research and training in the areas of both classical endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. This has now become standard for pediatric endocrinology programs across the country.
Subsequently, the division was under the co-directorship of Drs. Julio V. Santiago and Dennis M. Bier (1985-1993) and the sole directorships of Dr. Julio Santiago (1993-1997), Dr. Neil H. White (1997-2004), Dr. Louis J. Muglia (2004-2008), Dr. Abby Hollander (2008-2012) and Dr. Paul W. Hruz (2012-2017). The division is currently directed by Dr. Ana María Arbeláez who was appointed to this position in 2017. We work in close partnership with the adult Division of Endocrinology at Washington University and Shriners Hospital.