Advances in the Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics of Bone
Disease
10-12 July 2007
and
International Symposium on Paget’s Disease
12-13 July 2005
St Catherine’s College, Manor Road, Oxford,
UK
Speaker Profiles
Roy Altman
Roy D Altman, MD, is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology
and Immunology at the University of California at Los Angeles. Previously,
he was Chief of Rheumatology and Immunology at the University of
Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida.
His research interests have focused on osteoarthritis (animal models,
clinical trial design clinical trials) and Paget’s disease
of bone (the first major clinical trial with etidronate, prevalence
in the United States).
With Dr Roland Moskowitz, he has recently edited the fourth edition
of Osteoarthritis: Diagnosis and Management. As founder and past
President of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International,
he started and is Editor-in-Chief of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.
He is Editor of Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.
Dr Altman is a former board member of the American College of Rheumatology,
and served as their AMA Delegate from 1988 to 2003. He is a member
of the Board of Trustees and the Medical Advisory Committee of the
Paget’s Disease Foundation.
Tim Arnett
Tim Arnett graduated with a BSc in Biology from the University
of East Anglia and gained his PhD at the Royal Postgraduate Medical
School, working in the laboratory of Iain MacIntyre. He held postdoctoral
positions at Columbia University and University College London before
taking up a lectureship in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental
Biology at UCL in 1986. In 1991-92, he undertook sabbatical work
at the University of Texas. He was appointed Reader in Mineralised
Tissue Biology at UCL in 2001. In addition to his work on the control
of osteoclast and osteoblast function by extracellular pH and oxygen,
he is interested in the role of extracellular nucleotides in bone.
Tim Arnett is a past member of the editorial board of the Journal
of Bone & Mineral Research, and currently serves on the
editorial boards of Calcified Tissue International and
Endocrinology; he was secretary of the Bone Research Society
from 2004-7.
Roland Baron
Dr Roland Baron is a Professor in the departments of Orthopedics
and Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine, since 1977.
He received his DDS and PhD degrees from the University of Paris,
France. He is the founder and current Editor-in-Chief of Bone,
the Official Journal of the International Bone and Mineral Society,
and is President-Elect of the European Calcified Tissue Society.
Between 1994 and 2002, he also held the position of Vice President
and Head of the Bone Diseases Group at Hoechst Marion Roussel and
then Aventis. In 2002 he founded ProSkelia, a small pharmaceutical
company devoted to the discovery and development of new drugs for
bone and hormonal dependent diseases. He has held the positions
of President and Chief Scientific Officer of ProSkelia and then
ProStrakan, a merger between ProSkelia and Strakan, until April
2006. Dr Baron has published over 250 scientific papers in the field
of bone cell and molecular biology.
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Teresita Bellido
Dr Bellido obtained a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry at the Universidad
Nacional del Sur, Argentina; and performed postdoctoral training
with Stavros Manolagas at Indiana University. In 1994, she was appointed
as Research Assistant Professor, in the Endocrinology Division,
Department of Internal Medicine, and the Center for Osteoporosis
and Metabolic Bone Diseases, at the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences. And, she was promoted to Research Associate Professor
in 2000, to Associate Professor in 2003, and to full Professor with
Tenure in 2007.
Throughout her career she have received numerous awards. Her graduate
studies in Argentina and postdoctoral training in the US were supported
by the Argentinean Research Council (CONICET) through competitive
national research fellowships. Her work is has been funded by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1996. She received a R29
First Award in 1996; a K02 Career Development Award in 2000; a R03
in 2005; and a R01 in 2007. In addition, she has been project leader
in a Program Project on the Mechanisms of Osteoporosis lead by Dr
Stavros Manolagas since 2001 until 2011; and she has also been Co-investigator
in projects lead by Dr Robert Jilka on PTH actions in bone and Dr
Weinstein on glucocorticoid effects on the skeleton.
Dr Bellido’s research focuses on signal transduction in bone
cells, with particular interest in the mechanisms of regulation
of apoptosis and osteocyte biology. She has published in recognized
scientific journals, such as Cell, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, Science, Journal of Clinical Invesigationt,
Endocrinology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, American Journal
of Physiology, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, and Bone.
She is a reviewer for several journals including Journal of
Bone and Mineral Research, Bone, Journal of Biological Chemistry,
Endocrinology, American Journal of Physiology. She is currently
a member of the Editorial Board of Bone. She reviews extensively
for the NIH in the US and for funding agencies of other countries
such as the Netherlands, England, Canada and Argentina.
Dr Bellido is also an active member of the American Society for
Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) for which she has taken volunteer
responsibilities in several committes and task forces throughout
the years. She is currently chair of the ASBMR Education Committee.
Roger Bouillon
Roger Bouillon is a professor and chairman of endocrinology (internal
medicine) at the University and University Hospital of the Catholic
University of Leuven in Belgium. He received his medical training
in this University and has a Board certification in internal medicine,
endocrinology and nuclear medicine (in vitro).
His PhD thesis dealt with calcium and vitamin D metabolism. Hormonal
regulation of bone metabolism and vitamin D remained the primary
focus of his research although the laboratory of endocrinology (+/-
65 persons) and endocrine clinic is also involved in many other
endocrine diseases (especially diabetes and androgens).
He has been Vice-President for Research of the K.U. Leuven and member
of the Board of directors of his University and University Hospitals
(1995-2005) and is still a member of the Science Advisory Board
of the Flemish Government (president of Science Policy Commission).
He is a member of the Royal Academy of medicine (Belgium) and a
Fellow of the Royal College of Physician (London 2000 – present).
He has been the secretary (founding member) and later President
of the European Board of Endocrinology (UEMS 1988 - 2002).
He is a member of several European Science Foundation Committees
(Board member of the European Medical Research Council) and European
Space Agency Life Science working group. He is a Board member (treasurer)
of the International Bone and Mineral Society (IBMS) and of the
vitamin D workshop Inc.
He is a (co)author of more than 400 peer reviewed articles.
Tim Cundy
Tim Cundy’s earliest encounter with Paget’s disease
was as a medical student at Kings College Hospital in London, where
his teachers included Nick Woodhouse and the late Victor Parsons.
As a junior doctor at Kings he worked with Ronnie Hamdy; and later
as a research fellow in Oxford, John Kanis and Roger Smith were
charged with his education. Tim completed his training in endocrinology
and diabetes in London, and in 1988 moved to New Zealand, where
he now has a personal chair at the University of Auckland. He has
published widely on the epidemiology, genetics and treatment of
Paget’s disease.
David Dempster
Dr Dempster is a Professor of Clinical Pathology at Columbia University
in New York and the Director of the Regional Bone Center at the
Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, NY. Dr Dempster obtained
his PhD from the University of Glasgow, and completed postdoctoral
studies in Switzerland and France. He has published over 150 research
papers on the pathophysiology and treatment of bone disease. Several
of Dr Dempster’s images of bone structure are on permanent
display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He is
a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society and an active member
of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the Endocrine
Society, and was a founding member of the International Society
of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions. Dr Dempster was President
of the International Society of Bone Morphometry from 1996 to 1999,
and serves on the Scientific Advisory Council of the National Osteoporosis
Foundation. Dr Dempster is an Associate Editor of Osteoporosis
International, and has served on the Editorial Boards of Endocrinology
and the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. He is a member
of the Editorial Boards of Bone and The Journal of
Clinical Densitometry.
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Patricia Ducy
Patricia Ducy, PhD, is currently an assistant professor in the
Department of Pathology at Columbia University (New York, NY, USA).
She obtained her PhD from the University Claude Bernard (Lyon, France)
and was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr Karsenty laboratory at MD Anderson
Cancer Center (Houston, TX, USA) before becoming an assistant professor
at Baylor College of Medicine, (Houston, TX, USA). She identified
Runx2 as a major regulator of cell differentiation during skeleton
development and demonstrated that bone formation is centrally regulated
by a leptin-dependent mechanism. Her research uses a combination
of molecular biology, mouse genetics, and physiology to analyze
the molecular mechanisms controlling bone cell differentiation and
functions.
Richard Eastell
Professor Eastell is Professor of Bone Metabolism at the University.
He is an Honorary Consultant Physician in metabolic bone disease
at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield. He qualified in medicine
from Edinburgh in 1977. He trained at the Mayo Clinic under Dr B
L Riggs for 5 years. He became a fellow of the Royal College of
Physicians of London in 1996, an honorary fellow of the Royal College
of Physicians of Ireland in 1998 and a Fellow of the Royal College
of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Pathology and the
Academy of Medical Sciences in 2000.
He is the head of the Academic Unit of Bone Metabolism Group and
has an active research group into the pathophysiology, diagnosis
and treatment of osteoporosis. He has published over 200 papers
on osteoporosis and related topics. In 1997, he was awarded Hospital
Doctor of the Year in the osteoporosis category, in 1998 he was
awarded the Corrigan Medal of the Royal College of Physicians of
Ireland, and in 2003, was part of the team awarded the Queen’s
Anniversary Award to the University of Sheffield for the Health
and Social Care of Older People. In 2004, he was awarded the Kohn
Foundation award from the National Osteoporosis Society and the
Society of Endocrinology Medal. He is on the editorial board of
Osteoporosis International, Osteoporosis Review,
and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. He
is the Past President of the UK Bone Research Society and the President
of the European Calcified Tissue Society. He is Chairman of the
National Osteoporosis Society.
Paul Emery
Paul Emery is arc Professor of Rheumatology and Head of Academic
Unit of Musculoskeletal Medicine University of Leeds and Clinical
Director (Rheumatology) at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust in
the United Kingdom. Professor Emery is currently the Treasurer of
EULAR. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals.
He is a recipient of the Roche Biennial Award of Clinical Rheumatology,
the Rheumatology Hospital Doctor of the Year award 1999 and EULAR
prize 2002 for outstanding contribution to Rheumatology research.
Professor Emery’s research interests centre around the immunopathogenesis
and immunotherapy of rheumatoid arthritis and connective tissue
diseases. He has a special interest in the factors leading to persistent
inflammation and is a founder member of ERAS, LEAP (Leeds Early
Arthritis Project) and YEAR (Yorkshire Early Arthritis Register)
and the Leeds Musculoskeletal Imaging Group. He has published over
500 peer reviewed articles in this area.
Erik Eriksen
Erik Fink Eriksen received his medical degree from Aarhus University,
Denmark 1980, where he also finished his specialty training in Endocrinology
and Internal Medicine. He defended his Doctor of Medical Science
thesis at Aarhus University in 1987 after a 2 year postdoctoral
fellowship at the Mayo Clinic 1985-1987. He became consultant in
Endocrinology and Internal Medicine at Aarhus Amtssygehus 1994,
where he also took the position as Department Head 1995-2001. 2002
he joined Eli Lilly & Co. where he worked as Global Medical
Director responsible for the PTH program, until he joined Novartis
2005 as Senior Clinical Consultant and later as Global Brand Medical
Director for Aclasta/Reclast.
Concomitant with his clinical activities he led a bone research
lab focusing on basic bone biology, calcium metabolism and histomorphometry
1987-2002. His doctoral thesis described a new histomorphometric
technique, which enables more detailed investigations of cellular
activity in bone biopsies, and at the Mayo Clinic he was a member
of the group, which demonstrated the presence of estrogen receptors
in bone. In recent years his group has contributed significantly
to research around: genetics of osteoporosis, hormonal action on
osteoblasts and osteoclasts, immuno-cytochemistry of bone, vitamin
D metabolism, regulation of bone remodeling and osteocyte biology.
Erik Fink Eriksen is the author of more than 250 publications and
3 books, 2 of his papers are among the 20 most frequently cited
papers published in Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
over the last 25 years.
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Nathalie Franchimont
Nathalie Franchimont, M.D., Ph.D. is the International Medical
Affairs Director for osteoporosis in Amgen Inc., Zug , Europe. She
supports the program of RANKL inhibition in osteoporosis.
Before joining Amgen Inc. in 2005, Nathalie was Chief of Clinics
at the University of Liège, in Liège Belgium, the
vice president of the Royal Belgian Society of Rheumatology, and
a council member of the European Calcified Tissue Society. She was
also a research scientist at the FNRS, the Belgian National Institute
for Scientific Research. Her 3-year research training with Ernesto
Canalis in Hartford, CT, USA, led to defense of her PhD thesis at
the University of Liège. As a rheumatology fellow at Yale
University, USA, she develops her interest in the impact of inflammation
on bone metabolism for one year. Then, her main focus as a rheumatologist
has been the metabolic bone diseases associated with inflammatory
diseases. She has conducted basic research projects on targeted
genes in osteoporosis and has several outstanding papers in the
field. She has also been developing clinical research projects for
patients presenting with secondary or post-menopausal osteoporosis,
as well as osteonecrosis.
She is an active member of the Belgian Bone Club, the International
Bone and Mineral Society and the American Society for Bone and Mineral
Research. She has been involved in teaching programs for students,
general practitioners, and specialists concerning osteoporosis in
her country.
Jim Gallagher
Professor Jim Gallagher holds the Derby Chair of Anatomy at the
University of Liverpool and is head of the Department of Human Anatomy
and Cell Biology. Jim did his PhD in Cambridge under the supervision
of Eric Lawson, and then undertook postdoctoral research in Herbie
Fleisch’s lab in Bern. He returned to England to work in Graham
Russell’s lab in Sheffield where along with Jon Beresford,
he developed the first techniques to culture cells expressing an
osteoblastic phenotype from human bone. His work is focused on elucidating
the basic mechanisms underlying human bone and joint disease. Over
the past few years, his laboratory has been the international leader
in research on the role of extracellular nucleotides and P2 receptors
in bone and skin homeostasis. He is founder and director of PalindromX,
a biotechnology company devoted to the development of novel diagnostic
technologies, and the co-ordinator of “find AKUre”,
a Europe-wide collaboration to develop new therapeutic strategies
for the genetic disorder, alkaptonuria.
Jürg Gasser
Senior Research Investigator, Novartis Institute for Biomedical
Research, Musculoskeletal Diseases, Basel, Switzerland
Jürg Gasser is Senior Research Investigator/Scientific Expert
at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (Musculoskeletal
Diseases) and Head of an In Vivo Bone Research Laboratory at Novartis
Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland.
The main focus of Dr Gasser’s research is the identification
of novel bone anabolic targets, based on investigation of the biochemical
pathways leading to high bone mass phenotypes in human and murine
genetic mutations such as LRP5, and gene expression profiling in
response to bone anabolic compounds such as parathyroid and growth
hormones. One of his particular areas of interest is the role of
the recently discovered pH-sensing receptor in bone. His other research
activities include the preclinical characterisation of novel and
proprietary pharmaceutical products for the treatment of metabolic
bone disease, including cathepsin K inhibitors, oral calcitonin
and zoledronic acid.
Dr Gasser is President of the International Society of Musculoskeletal
and Neuronal Interactions and a member of the board of directors
of the International Society of Bone Morphometry, the International
Society of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions, The Swiss
Bone and Mineral Society and the Asia Pacific Society for Bone Morphometry.
He has published extensively on bone biology and morphometry, and
the application of non-invasive imaging techniques in animal models
of bone disease. Dr Gasser acts as a referee for numerous scientific
journals in this field, and is currently the scientific editor of
European Cells and Materials, associate editor of the Journal
of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions and on the editorial
board of Bone.
David Hosking
David Hosking is a Consultant Physician in the Metabolic Bone
Disease service at the City Hospital, Nottingham, UK and until recently
was also Professor of Mineral Metabolism in the Department of Biochemistry
at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is currently a Visiting
Professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and an examiner
for the Royal College of Physicians of London. He received his medical
training at the University of Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham,
UK and post-graduate training in Leiden, Netherlands. Current research
interests are in the long term control of Pagets disease and renal
bone disease. He has published over 200 papers and book chapters
on Pagets Disease, osteoporosis, calcium metabolism and bisphosphonates.
He is a member of the Editorial Board of Osteoporosis International,
the Pagets Foundation in USA (from whom he received the J B Johnson
Award for services to Paget’s Disease).
Aymen Idris
After graduating from Sunderland University in 1999 with an honour
degree in pharmacology, I did my MSc at the University of Aberdeen
in Professor G. M. Hawksworth’s laboratory. My MSc focused
on investigating the Nephrotoxicity of Antibiotics. I moved to the
Institute of Medical Sciences to study for a PhD in Professor Stuart
Ralston’s laboratory. The main focus of my research at this
stage was the design and development of small molecule inhibitors
of TRAF-dependent signalling as anti-resorptive and anti-rheumatic
drugs. I have also identified and demonstrated the role of Cannabinoids
on bone metabolism. This work attracted great interest and was recently
published in the reputable journal Nature Medicine. More recently
I moved to the University of Edinburgh working with Professor Stuart
Ralston, where I am currently studying the pharmacological actions
of Cannabinoids and various novel anti-resorptive and anti-inflammatory
drugs. My work is funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign, the
Scottish Enterprise, and the Moray Endowments Research Trust. I
am also a recipient of ECTS/AMGEN Bone Biology Fellowship.
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Virginia Kimonis
Dr Virginia Kimonis is a pediatrician and clinical geneticist.
She trained in the UK in family medicine and pediatrics and later
developed an interest in genetics in the UAE. Her US training in
pediatrics was at Massachusetts General Hospital, and then as a
clinical and biochemical genetics fellow at the NIH. Her first academic
appointment was at Southern Illinois University Medical School,
where she developed an interest in IBMPFD associated with the unusual
combination of distal/proximal hereditary inclusion body myopathy,
Paget disease of bone and dementia (IBMPFD). Later at Boston Children's
Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, she identified VCP (valosin containing
protein) as the causative gene. She currently serves as Chief of
the Division of Genetics and Metabolism in the Department of Pediatrics
at UC Irvine.
Michaela Kneissel
Senior Research Investigator, Novartis Institute for BioMedical
Research, Musculoskeletal Diseases, Basel, Switzerland
Michaela Kneissel is Senior Research Investigator I / Novartis Leading
Scientist at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. She
is Head of an In Vivo Bone Research Laboratory and a Project Team
Leader in the Musculoskeletal Disease Area, Novartis Pharma AG in
Basel, Switzerland.
Michaela Kneissel received her Ph.D. from the University of Vienna,
Austria. She performed part of her Ph.D. work at the Hard Tissue
Research Unit, University College London, UK and was post doctoral
fellow at the Radiobiology Division, University of Utah, Salt Lake
City, USA before joining Novartis. The main focus of her research
is discovery and development of drugs for osteoporosis therapy such
as intermittent parathyroid hormone treatment and release. In recent
years her research interest centered on the bone formation inhibitor
SOST. She has published various papers on bone biology and acts
as a referee for diverse scientific journals in this field.
Anne Langston
Anne has a background in Oceanography and Marine Biology in which
she received a Masters degree before moving into studies on fish
health. Studies on Atlantic salmon led to a doctorate and further
employment before moving into human clinical trials - a more logical
progression than you might imagine where a highly developed ability
to implement good experimental design is required. Anne has considerable
experience of leading multi-centre clinical trials and now manages
the Edinburgh Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Edinburgh.
Of particular relevance is the 6 years experience of research on
Paget’s disease. She recently relocated from the University
of Aberdeen and now works at the University of Edinburgh where she
is working on several new studies on Paget’s disease. Anne
is also a Trustee and Board Committee Member for the National Association
for the Relief of Paget’s Disease.
David Little
Dr Little graduated MBBS from the University of Sydney in 1986.
After selection on the Australian Orthopaedic Association training
scheme in 1990 Dr Little graduated FRACS(Orth) in 1994. He undertook
fellowships in Paediatric Orthopaedics at the Shriners Hospital
for Children in Portland, OR, USA and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital
for Children in Dallas TX, USA.
Dr Little commenced on staff at the Children’s Hospital, Westmead,
when it opened in November 1995. In 1998 he began researching the
role of bisphosphonates in distraction osteogenesis and in 1999
officially founded Orthopaedic Research and Biotechnology at CHW.
Dr Little remains Head of the Unit, and Deputy Head of the Department
of Orthopaedics.
In 2002 Dr Little was an ABC travelling fellow, presenting his research
with other international fellows from UK, NZ and South Africa on
a six-week tour of North America.
In 2005 Dr Little was awarded his PhD on bisphosphonates in distraction
osteogenesis. He has initiated further research on osteonecrosis,
fracture healing and the interaction of the anabolic and catabolic
responses in bone repair.
Dr Little remains active clinically and is now working on translating
pre-clinical work on bone healing to clinical practice.
Kenneth Lyles
Kenneth W. Lyles, MD, is Professor of Medicine and is Director
of the Geriatric Physician Fellowship Program at Duke University
Medical Center and a member of the Geriatric Research, Education
and Clinical Center at the VA Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Dr Lyles received his medical degree from the Medical College of
Virginia in Richmond. His postgraduate work included both an internship
and a residency in internal medicine at the Medical College of Virginia
Hospitals. These positions were followed by a fellowship in endocrinology
and metabolism, then a fellowship in geriatrics and gerontology
both at the VA and Duke University Medical Centers.
With research focusing on several areas related to bone disease
and to aging, Dr Lyles has published extensively in the areas of
hip fracture, age-associated osteoporosis, glucocorticoid-induced
osteoporosis, Paget’s disease, and tumoral calcinosis.
Dr Lyles is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the
Gerontological Society of America, and the American Geriatrics Society.
Active in a number of professional organizations, Dr Lyles currently
serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the Paget Foundation. He is Chair
Elect 2007 of the Clinical Medicine Section of the Gerontological
Society of America. He has served as Deputy Editor for the Journal
of Bone and Mineral Research He is now is on the Editorial
Boards of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,
Osteoporosis International, and Journal of Gerontology:
Medical Science. He also performs grant reviews for the National
Institute of Health, Bureau of Health Professions and Department
of Veterans Affairs.
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Matthew Gillespie
Associate Professor Matthew Gillespie is an Associate Director
of St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research (SVI) in Melbourne,
where he is Head of the Bone, Joint and Cancer Unit. His research
is focussed on actions of factors derived from breast cancers, and
their relevance to breast cancer metastasis in bone, and how T cell-derived
cytokines impact upon the formation and resorption of bone.
He has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Member
of: the NHMRC Research Committee (Australia); Council and Science
Advisory Committee of the Cancer Council of Victoria; Board of Directors
of the International Bone and Mineral Society; Board of Directors
the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society. He is a
member of the editorial boards for Bone, Journal of
Bone and Mineral Research, and is an advisor for the Journal
of Oral Biosciences.
Ralph Müller
Dr Müller is an Associate Professor of Biomechanics at ETH
Zürich. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering
from ETH in 1994. In 1996, he moved to Boston where he served as
a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard
Medical School and the Associate Director of the Orthopedic Biomechanics
Laboratory. Between 2000 and 2006, he was an SNF Professor of Bioengineering
at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH
Zürich. The research he has completed and is currently pursuing
employs state-of-the-art biomechanical testing and simulation techniques
as well as novel bioimaging and visualization strategies for biological
tissues. His approaches are now often used for precise phenotypic
characterization of tissue response in mammalian genetics, gene
therapy and mechanobiology. Dr Müller is an author of over
270 refereed journal and proceeding articles, 1 book, 44 chapters
and reviews, and over 250 peer-reviewed abstracts.
Gregory Mundy
Dr Gregory Mundy became the John A. Oates Chair in Translational
Medicine Director of the Center for Bone Biology at Vanderbilt University
in July 2006. Prior to this appointment, he was Head, Division of
Endocrinology and Metabolism (1980-2001) and Deputy and then Interim
Director of the San Antonio Cancer Institute at the University of
Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio (2001-2006) and Assistant
Dean for Clinical Research (2000-2006). Dr Mundy’s highly
productive and well-funded research program included a National
Cancer Institute funded Program Project Grant on the effects of
tumors on the skeleton. Current research interests include drug
discovery in osteoporosis, the effects of tumors on the skeleton,
osteoclast and osteoblast biology and fracture repair. Dr Mundy's
publications number more than 500 papers and book chapters. He is
the Past-President of the International Bone and Mineral Society
and a Past-President of ASBMR. Dr Mundy is a member of both the
American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association
of American Physicians (AAP). He has founded two biotechnology startup
companies for drug discovery in osteoporosis. He currently serves
on the Boards of Directors of the National Osteoporosis Foundation
(NOF) and the International Myeloma Foundation. He is in the second
percentile of all NIH-funded investigators over the past 25 years.
Brendon Noble
Dr Brendon Noble, Director of the Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering
Collaboration (MTEC), Coordinator of the Scottish Mechanotransduction
Consortium (SMTC) and Reader within the Scottish Centre for Regenerative
Medicine (SCRM). Dr Noble’s interests include osteocyte biology,
musculoskeletal regenerative medicine including bone & cartilage
repair, tissue engineering, mechanotransduction, human embryonic
& adult stem cell based therapies, drug discovery and design
& manufacture of tissue engineering scaffolds. He has an international
reputation in apoptosis research, and has established laboratories
in Edinburgh working on cell responses at the gene and molecular
level. Extrusion devices are being used to manufacture novel tissue
engineering scaffolds based on a range of materials and finite element
modelling to predict mechanical behaviour in situ. He is joint PI
on the Scotland wide Scottish Mechanotransduction Consortium. He
is PI on an MRC and Geron Corp funded stem cell programme in collaboration
with the Roslin Institute and runs a mechanically loaded human bone
bioreactor; one of 3 worldwide. Additionally, he runs commercially
funded gene therapy projects, fracture repair treatments and drug
discovery projects funded by a range of commercial sources.
Jude Onyia
Jude Onyia is the chief scientific leader (CSL) for Integrative
Biology at Lilly Research Labs, in Indianapolis, USA. He received
his BS degree in forest biology from SUNY Environmental Science
and Forestry at Syracuse (1988) and doctorate in cell and molecular
biology from the SUNY, Health Science Center at Syracuse (1993).
He joined Lilly the same year and since then has made significant
contributions in leveraging and integrating biotechnologies (informatics,
genomics, proteomics, assay technologies, imaging) to enable and
impact drug discovery. His research interests are on the application
of systems biology to drug action, targets and biomarkers in multiple
disease areas including bone.
Udo Oppermann
Dr Oppermann studied human biology and theoretical medicine at
Philipps University, Marburg, Germany and in 1993 completed his
PhD with a thesis on “Structural and functional homologies
of an evolutionarily conserved class of steroid dehydrogenases and
carbonyl reductases”. Following work as a research assistant
at the Philipps University Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
Philipps University, Dr Oppermann moved to the Karolinksa Institutet
in Stockholm, Sweden, resulting in appointment as Associate Professor
in Molecular Biology. In 2003 he spent time as Visiting Scientist
at Yale University, New Haven, USA (Department of Developmental
and Molecular Biology) and since 2004 Udo Oppermann has been University
Research Lecturer; Principal Investigator, Metabolic Enzymes, Structural
Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, UK.
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Socrates Papapoulos
Socrates E Papapoulos received his MD from the University of Athens,
Greece and he was trained in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology
in Athens and at the Middlesex Hospital, London, UK. In 1984 he
joined the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases of
the Leiden University Medical Center where he is currently Professor
of Medicine, Consultant Physician and Director of Bone and Mineral
Research. Since 1974 he has been continuously engaged in research
in disorders of calcium and bone metabolism with special emphasis
on the basic and clinical pharmacology of bisphosphonates. Dr Papapoulos
is recipient, among other, of the Boy Frame Memorial Award of the
American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the John Haddad
Jr Award of the International Bone and Mineral Society, the JB Johnson
Award of the Paget’s Foundation, USA and he is Doctor Honoris
Causa of the University of Athens. Past and present editorial duties
include: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Bone,
Clinical Endocrinology, Osteoporosis International,
Osteoporosis Reports, BONEKey, Clinical Cases of Mineral
and Bone Metabolism, Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology and
Metabolism, Expert Reviews Endocrinology and Metabolism. He
has served on numerous boards and committees including the Board
and the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Osteoporosis
Foundation, the Board of Directors of International Bone and Mineral
Society, the European Union committee for the prevention of osteoporosis,
a WHO task force for the development of a world wide strategy for
the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and he is senior scientific
advisor of the European Union project Osteoporosis in Europe.
Stuart Ralston
Stuart Ralston graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in
1978 and developed an interest in metabolic bone disease during
postgraduate training with Dr Iain T Boyle at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Professor Ralston trained in general internal medicine and rheumatology
in Glasgow between 1981 and 1988. He was appointed as a Wellcome
Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant at the University
of Edinburgh between 1988 and 1990 and moved to Aberdeen to take
up an appointment as Senior Lecturer in Medicine in 1991. He was
appointed as Professor of Medicine and Bone Metabolism in 1996 and
was Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences at Aberdeen between
2002 and 2004. Professor Ralston took up the ARC chair of Rheumatology
at the University of Edinburgh in February 2005 and was appointed
as Head of the School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine in November
2005. He is an Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist with Lothian Health
Board and is lead clinician for Osteoporosis services within NHS
Lothian.
Professor Ralston has published extensively on several aspects of
bone disease including the genetics of osteoporosis; the pathogenesis
and management of Paget's disease of bone; the role of Nitric Oxide
in bone and the pathogenesis and management of cancer-associated
bone disease. He was President of the European Calcified Tissue
Society between 1998 and 2005. He is currently joint editor-in-chief
of Calcified Tissue International, associate editor of
Bone; associate editor of Endocrinology and a
member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Bone and Mineral
Research.
Ian Reid
Ian Reid MD is Professor of Medicine and Endocrinology at the
University of Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests include
the pathogenesis and management of osteoporosis, primary hyperparathyroidism
& Paget’s disease, and his research group has been active
in the identification of novel regulators of bone cell function.
He is President of the International Bone and Mineral Society, Secretary
of the Asian Pacific Osteoporosis Foundation, and a Fellow of the
Royal Society of New Zealand.
René Rizzoli
René Rizzoli is an internist and endocrinologist, with
a subspecialty focus on metabolic bone diseases, osteoporosis and
disorders of mineral metabolism. He is presently professor of medicine
at the University Hospital of Geneva, head of the service of bone
diseases of the department of rehabilitation and geriatrics, and
chairman of this department. The service of bone diseases is a World
Health Organisation collaborating centre for osteoporosis prevention.
He is the president of the Swiss Association against Osteoporosis.
Dr Rizzoli was chairman of the Committee of Scientific Advisors
of the International Osteoporosis Foundation and was chairing the
scientific program committee of the IOF World Congress on Osteoporosis.
He is presently member of the Executive Committee of the International
Osteoporosis Foundation. He is involved in both basic and clinical
research projects investigating hormone action, regulation of bone
growth, pathophysiology of osteoporosis and the role of nutrition,
calcium, protein, bisphosphonates, selective estrogen modulators,
parathyroid hormone and strontium ranelate in the prevention and
treatment of osteoporosis. Dr Rizzoli is author of more than 400
scientific articles and associate editor of Bone and Osteoporosis
International.
Michael Rogers
Mike Rogers studied Biochemistry in the Department of Molecular
Biology & Biotechnology at the University of Sheffield, and
remained there for his doctorate studies on the mechanism of action
of bisphosphonates. He received his doctorate in 1993 and became
the first recipient of the M.D. Francis Research Fellowship in the
Department of Human Metabolism & Clinical Biochemistry. In 1997
he was awarded the prestigious JG Graves Medical Research Fellowship
from the University of Sheffield, to continue his studies on bisphosphonates
and their ability to cause osteoclast apoptosis. In 1997 Mike moved
to the University of Aberdeen where he was appointed Lecturer in
the Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, then promoted to
Senior Lecturer in 1999. In 2003 he was awarded a personal Chair
and currently heads a laboratory research group of ~12 people studying
the molecular pharmacology of bisphosphonates, the role of the mevalonate
pathway in bone metabolism, and small GTPases and other signalling
molecules involved in regulating osteoclast activity.
David Roodman
G. David Roodman, M.D., Ph.D. is Vice Chair for Research in the
Department of Medicine, and Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology,
at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is Director
of the Myeloma Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute,
and Director of the Center for Bone Biology, at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr Roodman received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry
from the University of Kentucky, and did post-doctoral work at the
University of Minnesota.
Currently, Dr Roodman holds two U.S. patents, three investigator
initiated NIH grants, and heads a Program Project Grant on the “Pathobiology
of Paget’s Disease. This Program Project attempts to answer
several important questions about the role measles virus plays in
pathophysiology of Paget’s disease and the important role
the genetic component plays in the pathologic process. The Department
of Veterans Affairs Merit Review Grant and the Multiple Myeloma
Research Foundation’s Collaborative Program Grant entitled
“Bone Microenvironment Factors in Myeloma Bone Disease”,
also fund him.
Dr Roodman serves on several peer review editorial boards, including
Experimental Hematology, Bone, Journal of Clinical Investigation,
Endocrinology, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal
of Bone and Mineral Research.
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Kuber Sampath
Dr T Kuber Sampath is a graduate of Madras University, and vice
president for discovery research initiative at Genzyme Incorporation,
MA. Previously, Dr Sampath held positions as vice president for
research at Selective Genetics, Inc, San Diego, CA and most recently
as executive director of research and development at Creative BioMolecules
Inc, Hopkinton, MA. Dr Sampath was responsible for the discovery
and therapeutic development of Company’s (in collaboration
with Stryker, Kalamazoo, MI) lead product, recombinant human bone
morphogenetic protein BMP-7/OP-1 (OP-1TM). The product is now been
used in USA, Canada, Europe and Australia as bone graft substitute
for orthopedic repair. Prior to that, Dr Sampath worked as visiting
scientist in bone cell biology section at National Institutes Dental
Research, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD where he made
original contributions for the identification of proteins responsible
for the “bone morphogenetic activity”. To this end,
Dr Sampath published more than 110 papers in leading research journals
and co-invented more than 95 issued US, European and Japan patents.
Dr Sampath is one of the founding scientists on bone morphogenetic
protein field and a pioneer in the field of therapeutic tissue engineering,
and has been elected as a member in several US and international
scientific societies and have given several invited plenary lectures
throughout the world.
Andrew Sewell
Andrew Sewell knows very little about bone biology. He has recently
taken up a position as Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff
University School of Medicine. He also continues as a visiting scientist
at the Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research in Oxford. He
has been a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow since 2001. Professor Sewell’s
research focuses on the adaptive immune system and in particular
T cell immunity. His interests concentrate around the molecular
recognition of T cell antigens and include T cell-mediated immunity
to pathogens and cancer in addition to autoimmune T cells.
Scott Simonet
Scott received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
from the University of South Florida, College of Medicine in 1988.
He subsequently received an Individual National Research Service
Award from the NIH to perform postdoctoral training at the Gladstone
Foundation Laboratories for Cardiovascular Disease at the University
of California, San Francisco, where he studied regulation of apolipoprotein
gene expression with John Taylor and Bob Mahley.
Scott came to Amgen as a Research Scientist in February of 1992
and began to search for secreted proteins, which might have therapeutic
utility. In 1994 he was part of a group contributing to Amgen’s
Genomics program that identified and functionated a secreted protein
in the TNFR Superfamily that we called Osteoprotegerin (OPG). This
group showed that OPG was a critical regulator of bone mineral density
and acts by inhibiting the actions of RANKL on osteoclastogenesis.
In 1998, this work received an award from the American Society of
Bone and Mineral Research for Outstanding Research on the Pathophysiology
of Osteoporosis.
Scott is currently Executive Director of the Bone and Mineral Metabolism
Research group in the Department of Metabolic Disorders at Amgen.
He heads a group of 52 scientists working on developing novel therapies
for osteoporosis, end-stage renal disease, and other bone related
diseases.
Dwight Towler
Dwight A. Towler received his MD/PhD from Washington University
in St. Louis. His thesis work delineated the enzymology of eukaryotic
protein N-myristoylation. He completed residency and metabolism
fellowship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Dr Towler's NIH-supported
research emphasizes transcription factor biology and vascular endocrinology
relevant to diabetic arterial calcification. In addition to his
academic career, Dr Towler spent 4 years in industry, most recently
as Senior Director of Bone Biology and Osteoporosis Research at
Merck. Clinically, he specializes in bone and mineral diseases.
His work has been recognized by the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation
(1996), the ASBMR (Fuller Albright Award 2000), and the American
Society for Clinical Investigation (elected 2004). He holds membership
on the editorial boards for JBMR and Bone, and the NIH Skeletal
Biology Development and Disease study section. Dr Towler is currently
the. Lang Professor of Medicine and Director of Bone and Mineral
Diseases at Washington University.
Slobodan Vukicevic
Slobodan Vukicevic, MD, PhD is a full professor and head of the
Laboratory of Mineralized Tissues at the School of Medicine, University
of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. His scientific interest includes isolation,
characterization and function of bone and cartilage morphogenetic
proteins, signal transduction mechanisms in osteoblasts and chondrocytes,
discovery of new biomarkers, biological regeneration of tissues
with particular interest in bone, cartilage and kidney. He received
several awards for achievements in science; was organizer of five
international conferences and is the president of the Croatian Calcified
Tissue Society, a member of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences
(WAAS) and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization
(EMBO). He has authored more than 130 papers and six books.
Michael Whyte
Michael P. Whyte, M.D., is Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics,
and Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
and is on staff at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children’s
Hospital, and Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis. He is
Medical-Scientific Director of the Center for Metabolic Bone Disease
and Molecular Research at Shriners Hospital.
Dr Whyte earned his M.D. degree at Downstate College of Medicine,
State University of New York, Brooklyn, New York and than had internship
and residency training in Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital
in New York City before spending two years as Clinical Associate
at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. After
fellowship in Endocrinology, he joined the faculty of Washington
University School of Medicine, St. Louis.
Dr Whyte’s research interests include the cause and treatment
of especially heritable skeletal disorders in children and adults.
Included are genetic forms of rickets such as hypophosphatasia and
X-linked hypophosphatemia, brittle bone diseases like osteogenesis
imperfecta, and conditions that cause dense bones such as osteopetrosis.
Collaborative laboratory investigations include mapping of specific
diseases on human chromosomes and then searches for mutated genes.
Molecular findings are then related to clinical observations to
better understand how these conditions develop. The Research Center
at Shriners Hospital serves as a national resource for diagnosis,
treatment, and investigation of disorders of bone and mineral metabolism
and skeletal dysplasias in children. Dr Whyte has authored or coauthored
more than 280 scientific papers or book chapters concerning pediatric
and adult metabolic bone diseases.
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