Susan Cowles traveled often to UW–Madison for care as a child. Her small stature (4’5″) and short, bowed legs led to a diagnosis of Schmid Metaphyseal Chondrodysplasia, an extremely rare skeletal abnormality. Cowles joined a trailblazing study that would lead to the establishment of her condition as a unique form of inherited dwarfism. David W. Smith, MD, a pediatric specialist, and Arlan Rosenbloom, MD ’58 (PG ’65, ’66), a young doctor-in-training (now a leading specialist in growth abnormalities), treated Cowles, who fondly remembers her visits to Madison. As an adult, she led an active life until serious knee arthritis in her ’70s drove her to get back in touch with UW specialists. Brian Nickel, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, performed Cowles’ tricky knee replacement. “This was the most challenging surgery I have done,” Nickel recalls. “[It is] all the more fulfilling to help patients like Susan get back to living a better life.”
Read more about Susan Cowles’ surgery and care
Rosenbloom’s Stellar Career
A pioneer in pediatric endocrinology, Arlan Rosenbloom, MD ’58 (PG ’65, ’66), has been recognized throughout his career as a prominent educator, researcher, and clinician. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 articles, chapters, or books, primarily on diabetes and growth problems. His research mainly has focused on type 1 diabetes in children.
Rosenbloom earned his medical degree from the UW Medical School (now the UW School of Medicine and Public Health). He completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology and diabetes at UW Children’s Hospital (now American Family Children’s Hospital) in 1965 and 1966, respectively.
In 1968, Rosenbloom joined the faculty of the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine, where he founded and served as chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology in the Department of Pediatrics until 1994. In Florida, he developed the Regional Diabetes and Endocrine Program and the Camp for Children and Youth with Diabetes. He was the founding director of the UF College of Medicine’s Diabetes Center and directed the National Institutes of Health-funded General Clinical Research Center.
Among Rosenbloom’s many honors, he received the Medical Alumni Citation — Distinguished Alumni Award from the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association in 1995. He has been named a distinguished service professor emeritus of pediatrics at the UF College of Medicine and a professor emeritus at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. In 2017, he received the Pediatric Endocrine Society’s highest award, the VanWyk Prize. He also received the society’s 2003 Distinguished Physician Award to recognize his prominent role in shaping standards of care for children with diabetes or other endocrine disorders. Rosenbloom and his wife reside in Florida.