National Pituitary Agency and Human Growth Hormone

Abstract

The scarcity of human growth hormone for clinical investigation and basic research has prompted the recent establishment of the National Pituitary Agency. The goals of this agency are to co-ordinate the collection of pituitanies and the distribution of hormone in a logical and sensible manner. This will eliminate much of the duplication of effort previously put forth by single individuals and will relieve the frustration of the pathologist who is approached by multiple physicians interested in collecting pituitaries. By educating pathologists and house staff officers of the critical need for human pituitaries, it is anticipated that the number of glands, and consequently the amount of hormone available, will be increased many fold. This agency is under the direction of Dr. R. M. Blizzard of Johns Hopkins University, and under the guidance of a Medical Advisory Board consisting of Dr. A. Wilhelmi, Emory University; Dr. C. H. Li, University of California; Dr. John Beck, Royal Victoria Hospital of Montreal, Canada; Dr. A. Bongiovanni, Children's Medical Center of Philadelphia; Dr. R. Greep, Harvard School of Dentistry; Dr. W. H. Daughaday, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; Dr. R. Brill, St. Mary's Hospital, Passaic, New Jersey; Dr. P. H. Henneman, Seton Hall University School of Medicine; Dr. W. Raben, New England Medical Hospital; Dr. W. Alford, National Institutes of Health; and Dr. W. E. Latimer of the National Pituitary Agency. It is anticipated that many pediatricians will be interested in this project and their help and assistance is cordially invited. Further information is obtainable from Wm. E. Latimer, M.D., National Pituitary Agency, 1900 McElderry Street, Baltimore 5, Maryland.