Christopher Dyer Saudek, MD: Diabetes Expert and Implantable Insulin Pump Pioneer

Abstract

Christopher Dyer Saudek, MD Christopher Dyer Saudek, MD, was a pioneer in the development of implantable insulin pumps, which brought freedom and flexibility to the field of diabetes. Saudek was born to Robert and Elizabeth Saudek in 1942. (Robert Saudek was the creator of the 1950s critically acclaimed television series Omnibus .) The young Saudek grew up in Bronxville, New York, and, along with his siblings, would often accompany his father on Sunday mornings to New York City. Standing just off camera, the youngsters would watch dress rehearsals of performances for Omnibus , which in turn kindled Christopher’s lifelong interest in theater and music. (It is a surprising twist that he chose medicine as his career, but it is no surprise that he was highly successful in his choice.) Throughout his public school years, Saudek excelled in academics, sports, orchestra, and student government. After graduating from Bronxville High School in 1959, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1963 and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical School in 1966. He subsequently trained in internal medicine at Chicago’s Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital and in endocrinology and metabolism at Harvard Medical School and Boston City Hospital. Dr. Saudek was a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow (1979–1980). He taught at Cornell Medical School for 8 years before arriving at Johns Hopkins University in 1980. He was part of a group of researchers that described the early use of hemoglobin A1c as a measure of glycemia in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1976 (1). The academic experiences from his early years as a young faculty member provided the physiological, health policy, and teaching expertise that would be the foundation for a stellar career as a diabetes …