David H. Robertson Biographical File

David Robertson, MD, was a pioneer in the clinical research of blood pressure disorders at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. An emeritus professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Neurology, Dr. Robertson was founder and former director of the Vanderbilt Autonomic Dysfunction Center, and former director of the Vanderbilt Clinical Research Center, the Center for Space Physiology & Medicine, and the Center for Molecular Neuroscience.

He was best known internationally for his clinical research into the autonomic nervous system and how it affects circulation and blood pressure regulation.

Dr. Robertson and a core group of investigators formed the Vanderbilt Autonomic Dysfunction Center in 1978 to treat and study patients with orthostatic hypotension (a fall in blood pressure while standing) and other disorders of the autonomic nervous system.

Through the center Dr. Robertson and his colleagues discovered previously unrecognized disorders including dopamine beta-hydroxylase deficiency, norepinephrine transporter deficiency and baroreflex failure and developed novel treatments for these and many other autonomic disorders.

A native of Dickson County, Tennessee, he graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1969 with a BA in Germanic and Slavic Languages, and received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1973. Dr. Robertson completed his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and was a postdoctoral fellow in Clinical Pharmacology at VUMC for two years before accepting a position as assistant chief of Service in Medicine and instructor in Medicine at Johns Hopkins. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1978.

In 1989 Dr. Robertson was named director of the Vanderbilt Clinical Research Center (CRC). Among his many accomplishments during this period was his participation in the 1998 international Neurolab space shuttle mission. Experiments designed by his team probed how the autonomic nervous system of the mission’s astronauts functioned in microgravity.

In 1993 Dr. Robertson was named director of VUMC’s Medical Scientist Training Program, where for 10 years he managed the selection and support of the training of many young physician-scientists. He retired in 2018 and was honored for his service by being elevated to emeritus professor status.

He died on January 12, 2024 at his home in Nashville. He was 76.

Adapted from an article written by Bill Snyder and Nancy Humphrey that appeared in the January 18, 2024 issue of the VUMC Reporter.