David Robbins

David Robbins, MD — Senior Research Fellow

Neotropical Anthropology Laboratory (NAL)

Bud and Sally Cray Professor of Medicine, Emeritus

Adjunct Research Professor of Anthropology

Dr. David C. Robbins is a physician-scientist and internationally recognized expert in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and minority health, with a distinguished career spanning academic medicine, large-scale clinical trials, and community-based health interventions. He serves as Senior Research Fellow at the Neotropical Anthropology Laboratory (NAL), where he leads and advises overseas health initiatives focused on Indigenous and underserved populations, particularly in Amazonian South America.

Dr. Robbins is Bud and Sally Cray Professor of Medicine, Emeritus at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he founded, created, and led the Cray Diabetes Center and served as Director of the KU Diabetes Institute for more than a decade. His research has consistently emphasized health disparities, metabolic disease, and culturally grounded prevention strategies among Indigenous and minority communities.

He was a principal investigator or senior investigator in several landmark, multi-center studies, including the Strong Heart Study, GOCADAN (Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease in Alaskan Natives), and the Healthy Rice Study, which examines the metabolic effects of low-glycemic dietary interventions. Across these projects, Dr. Robbins has combined rigorous biomedical science with community engagement and applied public health perspectives.

Dr. Robbins has authored two scholarly books, numerous book chapters, and over 150 peer-reviewed publications in the fields of diabetes, endocrinology, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic health. His work has appeared in leading journals such as Diabetes, Diabetes Care, JAMA, Circulation, and The New England Journal of Medicine, among many others.

Holding an Adjunct Research Professorship in Anthropology, Dr. Robbins has worked closely with anthropologists and Indigenous collaborators to design and implement health surveys, metabolic assessments, and nutritional interventions in Amazonian communities. In this role, he has played a central part in introducing and evaluating a low-glycemic rice intervention among Amazonian populations at elevated risk for type 2 diabetes, integrating clinical metrics with ethnographic and community-based approaches.

Within NAL, Dr. Robbins provides senior leadership at the intersection of medicine, anthropology, and global health, mentoring interdisciplinary teams and helping translate biomedical research into ethically grounded, culturally responsive health initiatives across the Neotropics.