Active CMA-Member Dr. Robert Lull Murdered; San Francisco Medical Society Hosting Memorial Service
[Updated 06/02/05]

CMA extends its deepest condolences to family, friends, and colleagues of Robert Lull, M.D., who was murdered last week at his San Francisco home. He was past president of the San Francisco Medical Society and a member of CMA’s House of Delegates.

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“Bob was a pillar of leadership in the medical community and a highly respected member of our House of Delegates and editorial board,” said CMA CEO Jack Lewin, M.D. “He will be sorely missed by all of us who knew and had the pleasure of working with him.”

Dr. Lull, who was 64, had an exemplary career. He was chief of nuclear medicine at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) and had a strong national reputation as physician and educator, with hundreds of scientific presentations and journal articles to his credit.

From 1976 to 1990 he served as chief of nuclear medicine at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. He retired from active military duty in 1990 and joined SFGH as an associate chief of nuclear medicine, becoming chief in 1991. When nuclear medicine became part of the Department of Radiology at SFGH in 1993, Dr. Lull became a clinical professor and director of UCSF’s nuclear medicine residency program.

He is credited with developing improved methods of cancer therapy with radioisotopes; early clinical application of radiotracer development research; and novel uses of radiolabeled peptides and gene therapy reporter probes. Prior to his death he was working on a new way to localize and quantify hemorrhage in the bowel and elsewhere with red blood cell scintigraphy. As president of the San Francisco Medical Society, Dr. Lull lectured on the implications of possible nuclear terrorism, and at CMA’s most recent House of Delegates meeting in 2005, he introduced a resolution calling for an end to the U.S. government’s testing and deployment of new nuclear weapons.

Lull earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College, and completed his residency in nuclear medicine at William Beaumont General Hospital in El Paso.

He is survived by two adult sons.

The San Francisco Medical Society will celebrate the life of Dr. Lull, who served as president of the society in 2002. The memorial service will be June 12, 2-4 p.m., in San Francisco at SFMS headquarters, 1409 Sutter St. (between Franklin and Gough).

If you plan to attend the service, please RSVP by e-mail to lullmemorial@yahoo.com or by phone to 415/561-0850, extension 0.

In lieu of flowers, Dr. Lull’s loved ones have asked that you make a donation to the SFGH Foundation, c/o the Dr. Robert J. Lull Memorial Fund, 2789 25th Street, Suite 2028, San Francisco, CA 94110. Letters and cards may be sent to the Lull Family at 103 Walnut Ave, Corte Madera, CA 94925.

Contact: SFMS, 415/561-0850 ext. 0 or e-mailing lullmemorial@yahoo.com.