Department of biochemistry

R. Bruce Wilcox, PhD

Address: Department of Biochemistry
209 Mortensen Hall
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, CA 92350
Phone: (909) 558-4527, extension 48665
Fax: (909) 558-4887
Email: bwilcox@llu.edu

Undergraduate: Pacific Union College, Angwin, California

Graduate: University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

        My research focus has been in three areas: 1) steroid hormone metabolism; 2) endocrinology of estrogen-induced cancer; 3) thyroid hormone measurement and physiology. The significant contributions that we have made to science over the years include: 1) Demonstration that the stereochemistry of hydrogen transfer by rat 20a-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase is different than that predicted by the scientific dogma in vogue in the 1960ís; 2) Demonstration that the carcinogenic effects of estrogens are mediated by the estrogen receptor mechanism in a mouse Leydig cell tumor model; 3) Showed diminished functional affinity for thyroxine by the thyroid binding proteins in the blood of a subgroup of hospitalized patients; 4) Demonstration and quantification of systematic bias in direct free thyroxine immunoassays that leads to underestimates of hormone levels in some seriously ill patients.

        Our current research interests and goals are focusing on the serum transport of thyroid hormone in health and disease and its relationship to pituitary-thyroid regulation. There is a need for an accurate way to measure free thyroid hormone under conditions of altered transport. Transport is altered in some seriously ill patients and as the result of some medications. Our work includes the determination of the systematic bias in thyroid hormone assays and the determination of conditions associated with altered TSH regulation in humans. We are also currently determining the diagnostic utility of thyroid function tests both for population screening and for patient monitoring. Our work will lead to improved methods of diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders.

        The following individuals have been trained in my laboratory: 1) William Kersey PhD, an undergraduate college teacher; 2) Stanley Tan MD, PhD, a practicing endocrinologist and clinical researcher; 3) R. Lloyd Juriansz DDS, PhD, a practicing dentist; 4) Milton Drachenberg MD, PhD, a pathologist at LLU; 5) Viroj Boonyratanakornkit M.S., PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; 6) Rong Wang MB, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in our laboratory at LLU.

News note:

R. Bruce Wilcox, professor of biochemistry, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University earned the BS degree from Pacific Union College (1953). A Danforth Graduate Fellow from 1957-62, he completed the PhD degree at the University of Utah (1962). From 1965-67 he was a postdoctoral Bank of America Giannini Foundation Fellow.

Dr. Wilcox joined the faculty of the School of Medicine in 1965. Now in his 35th year on the faculty of the department of biochemistry, he has filled administrative posts in the department, including 3 years as executive secretary and 10 years as chair. Under his administrative leadership, the number of faculty in the department doubled.

As a teacher, Dr. Wilcox has developed several courses in the department of biochemistry. students in the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry as well as in the Graduate School have benefited from his scholarship and experience.

Both as teacher and administrator, Dr. Wilcox has had a strong influence on the development of the School of Medicine's curriculum and the shaping of its basic sciences programs. He has been a member of the curriculum committee and an active voice for the issues and concerns of basic sciences in education. For many years he has admirably represented School of Medicine and department of biochemistry concerns on the University Academic Affairs Committee. His is a respected voice in this academic community; and in 1989 when Loma Linda University became a health-sciences institution, Dr. Wilcox served as first chair of the Interschool Faculty Advisory Council, the faculty governance body of the University.

In addition to teaching and administration, Dr. Wilcox has continued his basic and clinical research. Past focus has been in three areas: steroid hormone metabolism, endocrinology of estrogen-induced cancer, and thyroid hormone measurement and physiology. His current research interests and goals are focusing on the serum transport of thyroid hormone in health and disease and its relationship to pituitary-thyroid regulation. This research will potentially lead to improved methods of diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders.

In addition to his academic, administrative, and advisory roles on campus, Dr. Wilcox for 16 years served as head University Commencement Marshal at the Conferring of Degrees services for the schools of the University. His extracurricular contributions include service to the University Church as Finance Committee member, Sabbath School teacher, and contributor to programs for various age groups. A scientist who is at ease with many subjects and with the literati, he has also served with seemingly effortless skill as moderator of the Redlands-area C.S. Lewis discussion group.

The University recognizes his contributions--characterized always by excellence--in teaching, research, and administration; appreciates his wise voice of reason on committees and advisory bodies; and is grateful for the sense of order and dignity he has stamped on University-wide ceremonial occasions. In token of the high regard in which he is held in this academic community, Dr. Wilcox received the DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY SERVICE AWARD at the conferring of degrees for the School of Medicine on May 28, 2000.

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