Morton L. Pearce, 83; Doctor Researched Role of Diet in Heart Disease
Dr. Morton Lee Pearce, 83, a professor emeritus of medicine at UCLA who was best-known for his work on the role of diet in heart disease and stroke, died March 1 at Stanford University Hospital of complications from cancer.
Working with Dr. Seymour Dayton, Pearce conducted early clinical trials demonstrating that a diet low in saturated fat and high in unsaturated fat protected against heart attack and stroke. An account of their work was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1962.
Pearce was also a leader in research in congestive heart failure and the role of the electrocardiogram in diagnosis of heart disease.
A native of Chicago, Pearce earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees at the University of Chicago. He interned at Los Angeles County Hospital in 1945 and held his first residency there. He went on to hold positions at Johns Hopkins University and Vanderbilt University before joining the UCLA faculty in 1956 as an associate professor. He became a full professor at the Westwood campus in 1963.
Pearce was also chief of cardiology at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Westwood from 1965 to 1969 and chief of cardiology at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences from 1969 to 1975. He retired in 1986 and divided his time between Lyngby, Denmark, and Palo Alto.
