Board Members
Jonathan Adachi, Canada
Jonathan Adachi is Professor of Medicine at the Michael DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University and Director of the Hamilton Arthritis Centre at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the inaugural holder of the Alliance for Better Bone Health Chair in Rheumatology. Professor Adachi is a graduate of McMaster University and received a fellowship in Internal Medicine and in Rheumatology. He is a Past President of Osteoporosis Canada and currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of that organization. He is both a member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) Board and of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors. Professor Adachi has conducted many clinical trials and published extensively on a wide variety of therapies for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal and corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis. Due to his extensive knowledge in these fields, he has participated in the development of guidelines for the treatment of primary and corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis in Canada. Quality of life, the health economics of osteoporosis and adherence to therapy are other areas of interest.
Silvano Adami, Italy
Professor Silvano Adami, MD, is Head of the Rheumatology Unit of the University of Verona, where he also serves as full professor in Rheumatology. His clinical activities center on metabolic bone diseases, rheumatology, and endocrinology and he has published over 300 scientific papers that discuss bone diseases and their treatment. Dr. Adami sits on the editorial boards of several specialized international journals, including Osteoporosis International, Bone, Calcified Tissue International, European Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, and Journal of Bone Densitometry. He is Associated Editor of Aging, Clinical, and Experimental Research and is a member of the Board and of the CSA of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF).
A native of Verona, Dr. Adami graduated cum laude in medicine at the University of Padua and later specialized in internal medicine and endocrinology. Among his postgraduate education, he was Research Fellow at the Department of Internal Medicine of Middlesex Hospital Medical School of London.
John P. Bilezikian, USA
Dr. Bilezikian, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University is Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Director of the Metabolic Bone Diseases Program at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Bilezikian received his training in Metabolic Bone Diseases and in Endocrinology at the NIH under Dr. Gerald Aurbach. He belongs to a number of professional societies including the ASBMR of which he has served as President and the ISCD of which he also served as President. He is a member of the Endocrine Society, the American Federation for Clinical Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and the American College of Endocrinology that has designated him Master. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the JCEM (2000-2004) and as Associate Editor of OI (Special Features Editor). He will become Senior Associate Editor of JBMR in 2008. His books include Editor-in-Chief of The Parathyroids (1994, 2001), and co-editor of Principles of Bone Biology (1996, 2002, 2008), The Aging Skeleton (1999), and Dynamics of Bone and Cartilage Metabolism (1999, 2006). He chaired the NIH Consensus Development Panel on Optimal Calcium Intake and Co-chaired the NIH Workshop on Primary Hyperparathyroidism. He is a Councillor of the Endocrine Society, Member of the Board of Governors of the IOF, Member of the Council of Scientific Advisors of the IOF, and Chair of the Endocrine Fellows Foundation. Dr. Bilezikian's major research interests are related to the clinical investigation of metabolic bone diseases, particularly osteoporosis and primary hyperparathyroidism. In these areas, he has published over 500 scientific papers.
He is the recipient of the Distinguished Physician Award of the Endocrine Society, the Frederic C. Bartter Award of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research for Excellence in Clinical Research, the John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award of the Houston Academy of Medicine, the First Annual Global Leadership Award of the ISCD, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Armenian American Medical Society.
Juliet Compston, UK
Juliet Compston is Professor of Bone Medicine and Honorary Consultant Physician at Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine. She obtained her medical degree at the Middlesex Hospital, London University, with a distinction in Medicine.
Professor Compston is actively involved in research into metabolic bone disease. Her main interest is the cellular and structural pathophysiology of bone loss associated with osteoporosis and the effects of drugs on these changes. Research interests also include the effects of glucocorticoids in bone and the role of megakaryocytes in bone remodelling. Recently her work has focused on secondary osteoporosis, particularly associated with liver transplantation and with cystic fibrosis.
Professor Compston is currently a Member of the Board of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and a Board member of the International Bone and Mineral Society. She is Leader and Chair of the European Commission / IOF Call to Action for Osteoporosis, a Trustee of the Medical Board of the National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) and serves on the MHRA Expert Advisory Group on Women’s Health. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and serves on the editorial board of Bone, Osteoporosis International and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. She is a member of the Osteoporosis Guidelines Development Group for the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). She chaired the Guideline Development Group for the Royal College of Physicians Guidelines on the Prevention and Treatment of Glucocorticoid-induced Osteoporosis and the Royal College of Physicians Working Group for the Update on Management of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis. She is Past President of the Bone and Tooth Society and the International Society of Bone Morphometry. She has over 300 publications.
Cyrus Cooper, UK
Chairman, Committee of Scientific Advisors
Cyrus Cooper is Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre at the University of Southampton Medical School and Southampton General Hospital in the UK. Professor Cooper graduated from the University of Cambridge and St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London in 1980, and completed his residency in 1985 at the Southampton University Hospitals. In 1990, he won an MRC Travelling Fellowship to the Mayo Clinic, USA, where he continued his research in osteoporosis. Cyrus Cooper returned to the UK in 1992 to take up a position as Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology and MRC Senior Clinical Scientist. He was promoted to the foundation Chair in Rheumatology at the University of Southampton in 1997 while continuing as an MRC Senior Clinical Scientist at the MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit. In 2003, he was appointed Director of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton. He leads an internationally competitive programme of research into the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders, most notably osteoporosis.
His key research contributions have been: 1) discovery of the developmental influences which contribute to the risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture in late adulthood; 2) demonstration that maternal vitamin D insufficiency is associated with sub-optimal bone mineral accrual in childhood; 3) characterisation of the definition and incidence rates of vertebral fractures; 4) leadership of large pragmatic randomised controlled trials of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the elderly as immediate preventative strategies against hip fracture.
He is also Chair-Elect to the Norman Collisson Chair of Musculoskeletal Science at the University of Oxford; Chairman of the Committee of Scientific Advisors, International Osteoporosis Foundation; and has worked on numerous Department of Health, European Community and World Health Organisation committees and working groups. He is Associate Director of Research at the University of Southampton Medical School, and Associate Editor of Osteoporosis International.
He has published extensively (over 350 publications) on osteoporosis and rheumatic disorders and pioneered clinical studies on the developmental origins of peak bone mass.
Professor Cooper was awarded the inaugural Duchess of Cornwall Award in February 2009.
Steven Cummings, USA
Steven Cummings is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology (emeritus) at the University of California, San Francisco and Director of the UCSF Coordinating Center. He has published widely in scientific journals and is co-editor of the book "Osteoporosis: An Evidence-based Guide to Prevention and Management" from the American College of Physicians. He has been principal investigator of the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, Men's Osteoporosis Study (Mr. OS), Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT) and other multicenter studies of osteoporosis. He is also investigator and consultant for the MORE trial of raloxifene and other large multi-center studies. He has helped develop international studies in Latin America (Latin American Vertebral Osteoporosis Studies) and in China (MrOS Hong Kong and Beijing Osteoporosis Project). Professor Cummings has served as a member of the IOF Board and on the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors since 2002. He helped create and find sponsorship for the IOF Scholars program which recognizes and supports young scientists from diverse regions.
Professor Cummings has published more than 300 articles and co-authored books on research design and osteoporosis. He has been elected to the United States Institute of Medicine for his leadership in clinical research and prevention of fractures.
Bess Dawson-Hughes, USA
General Secretary
Bess Dawson-Hughes, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine at Tufts University and Director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. She is trained in endocrinology and directs the Metabolic Bone Diseases Clinic at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
Prof. Dawson-Hughes has been on the Board of Trustees of the National Osteoporosis Foundation since 1995. In 2002, she began a 3-year term as the President of the NOF. She is currently on the Council of the International Bone and Mineral Society and the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases. She has served in the past on the councils of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the American Society of Clinical Nutrition. From 1994-2002, she was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Prof. Dawson-Hughes has published over 280 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, abstracts, and reviews. Her current research is directed at examining ways in which calcium, vitamin D, protein and other nutrients influence age-related loss of bone mass and risk of fragility fractures.
Harry K. Genant, USA
Harry K. Genant, MD, is Professor Emeritus of the University of California San Francisco, and Chairman Emeritus and Member of the Board of Directors of Synarc, Inc. He received his medical degree from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and completed his internship on the Osler Service at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He received residency training in Medicine and in Radiology at the University of Chicago, and was Chief Resident and Assistant Professor in Radiology. In 1974 he assumed a faculty position at the University of California, San Francisco, as Chief of Musculoskeletal Radiology. He remained at UCSF for over 30 years, achieving the rank of Professor of Radiology, Medicine, Epidemiology and Orthopaedic Surgery. He founded the Osteoporosis and Arthritis Research Group (OARG) in the Department of Radiology, UCSF, and served as its Executive Director. This group, once numbering over 130 physicians, scientists and research associates, was recognized as a leading source of research on the development and assessment of noninvasive and quantitative imaging methods for osteoporosis, arthritis and orthopaedics. In 1998 he co-founded Synarc, Inc, a global, contract research organization (CRO) specializing in management of quantitative imaging and biomarkers in large, multicenter, multinational, pharmaceutical drug trials. He serves as a Member of the Board and Senior Consultant for Synarc.
Dr. Genant has been editor or co-editor of more than 30 books and author or co-author of more than 170 chapters or invited articles, over 500 articles in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals, and over 1500 abstracts presented at national and international scientific and professional gatherings. He is on the editorial boards of, Osteoporosis International, the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, and the Journal of Clinical Densitometry. He is an Associate Editor of Bone. Among the numerous awards and honors Dr. Genant has received are honorary lifetime memberships of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine. He is an honorary member of the Italian Radiolologic Society, the Chinese Osteoporosis Society, the Chilean Society of Osteology, the Hungarian Society of Osteology, and the European Society of Skeletal Radiology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists. He was named Outstanding Physician of the Year by the International Society for Clinical Densitometry in 1998.
Dr. Genant has served as President of the Association of University Radiologists, Scientific Chair or President of the First through Fifth International Congresses on Osteoporosis in China, and Co-Chair of the Second International Conference on Osteoporosis in Japan. He is currently President of the International Skeletal Society, Chair of the WHO Task Force on Osteoporosis, Chair of the International Steering Committee for Artificial Gravity for the joint US, German and Russia Space Programs, Member of the Radiologic Devices Panel of the US Food and Drug Administration, and Co-Director of the International Osteoporosis Foundation Global Initiative on Vertebral Fracture Assessment.
John A. Kanis, UK
President
Prof. John A. Kanis received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh. After a MRC Clinical Research Fellow position at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre he became Wellcome Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He was then appointed Reader in Human Metabolism and Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Sheffield, where he is currently the Emeritus Professor in Human Metabolism and the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases. Prof. Kanis’ research interests are largely related to disorders of skeletal metabolism including osteoporosis, Paget's disease of bone, hyperparathyroidism, renal osteodystrophy and neoplasia affecting the skeleton. He has also made a number of national and international contributions to guideline development, health technology assessment, epidemiology and health economics. Prof. Kanis holds several honorary positions including founding member and trustee of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and Bone Disease (now the International Osteoporosis Foundation), founder member of the British Menopause Society, chairman of the Finance committee of the International Bone and Mineral Society, and a WHO Advisor on Osteoporosis. He is an Editor of Bone and serves on the editorial board of several journals. He is the author of more than 800 papers, chapters and books on bone disease and metabolism. His current major interest is in the development of risk assessment algorithms and the formulation of practice guidelines in many regions of the world.
Stephan Korte, Switzerland
Vice Chairman, Committee of Corporate Advisors
Stephan Korte is an organic chemist by training. After finishing his education as a chemist, he worked for four years in the pesticides industry in the US (Coulston International Corporation). The first two years he worked on the development of a new synthesis for insect repellents before moving into into marketing and sales of consumer pesticides. He started his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1989 with Novartis in Basel as a Global Brand Manager for anti-inflammatories and analgesics. During the decade 1992 to 2002 Mr. Korte worked in various positions of increasing responsibility in marketing and general management in the Czech Republic starting as the Head of Marketing and finally as Country Manager. He then was transferred to Novartis Finland as Country Manager for 2 years and for 3 years as Pharma CEO in Belgium. In 2003 he returned to Novartis Pharma Basel in his current function as Director of Global Product Advocacy.
Edith Lau, Hong Kong, China
Dr Edith Lau graduated in the University of Hong Kong in 1979. She then obtained a master in Epidemiology from the University of London.
She has served as an academic in the Chinese University of Hong Kong since 1982, and was appointed as Professor in Community Medicine in 2001. She is currently a fellow of many prestigious academic institutions including the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdoms, the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom, and the Hong Kong academy of Medicine. Dr Edith Lau embarked on research in the field of osteoporosis in 1992. She is the researcher who first documented the epidemic of osteoporosis which plagued Asia from the 1980's. Since then, she has broadened her research to the epidemiology, clinical aspects, as well as the genetics of osteoporosis. Dr Lau has published more then 200 articles in the field of osteoporosis. She is the recipient of numerous research grants.
In 2001, Dr Lau received a major grant from the Hong Kong jockey Club charity Trust to found the Hong Kong Jockey Club Osteoporosis Center for Osteoporosis care and Control. This was the first center of its kind in Asia. In 2002, she was awarded a major grant by the National Institute of Health of the US to conduct the first cohort study on osteoporosis in Asian men. Awards on such a scale, to an Asian investigator, was unprecedented. The study has had a major impact on knowledge about osteoporosis of men in Asia. Dr Lau founded the Asian Pacific Osteoporosis Foundation and the Hong Kong Osteoporosis Foundation in 1999. The missions of these foundations were to promote the research, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in Asian, China and Hong Kong. She was elected to the board of the International Osteoporosis Foundation in 2002. Dr Lau aspires to continue her service in osteoporosis care and control in Asia through the good cause of the International Osteoporosis Foundation.
Marcel Lechanteur, Belgium
Chairman, Committee of Corporate Advisors
Marcel Lechanteur holds a Masters in Law from ULG University, Belgium and a Masters in Business Administration from Cornell University, NY, USA. In 1990, he joined Eli Lilly and had assignments in sales, marketing and product development based in Minneapolis, Brussels, London, and Indianapolis. He also served as Managing Director of Lilly Suisse S.A., Geneva, Switzerland. He is currently an Executive Director at the Indianapolis-based Lilly U.S.A. affiliate. Marcel Lechanteur is an invited Professor at ULG, Belgium and invited Professor at La Sorbonne Paris, France.
Rubem Lederman, Brazil
Professor Lederman is Founder and President of the Brazilian Osteoporosis Society and is a long serving Board Member of the IOF. He was President of the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology from 1982 to 1984 and of the Brazilian Academy of Rheumatology from 1994 to 1996. He was also President of the Anti-Ageing Society and the International Ibero American Committee from 1994 to 1998. Prof. Lederman is well known in Latin America and is an honorary member of the Argentine and Chilean (as well as Portuguese) Rheumatology societies. He is a member of the Pan American League of Rheumatology Associations. Professor Lederman was Executive President of the 2004 IOF World Congress on Osteoporosis in Rio de Janeiro and of the XVII World Rheumatology Congress ILAR held in Brazil in 1989.
He is Chief of the Rheumatology Dept.and Clinical Research Chief of the Hospital dos Servidores do Estado do Rio de Janeiero. Professor Lederman has published in international medical journals, as well as co-edited the book ‘Osteoporose-Brasil, 2000’.
Uri Liberman, Israel
Uri Liberman is Professor of Physiology and Medicine at the Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine of Tel Aviv University. He has published some 150 scientific papers in peer reviewed top rated journals in medicine, endocrinology, biochemistry, cell biology and bone and mineral metabolism as well as reviews and chapters in books, and has been a reviewer for many of these journals. A partial list of Prof. Liberman’s present and past positions includes: Irene and Nicholas Marsh Chair in Juvenile Diabetes and Endocrinology; Chief Scientist Rabin Medical Center, Petah-Tikva; Head Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism Beilinson Medical Center, Petah-Tikva; Scientific Director, Hertzig Institute for Aging Research, Tel Aviv University. Prof. Liberman has been the President of the Israeli Bone and Mineral Society and the Israeli Foundation for Osteoporosis and Bone Diseases. He is a member of the Board of the International Bone and Mineral Society and a recipient of the Johan G Haddad Sr. Award by the International Bone and Mineral Society.
Basel Masri, Jordan
Dr. Masri is Consultant Rheumatologist and Director of Jordan Osteoporosis Center at Jordan Hospital (Amman-Jordan). His main activities are focused on osteoporosis, clinical bone densitometry, inflammatory joint diseases and osteoarthritis. He is the Founder of the Jordanian Osteoporosis Society (JOPS) (in 1997) and Past President (1998-2006), Co-Founder of the Pan-Arab Osteoporosis Society (PAOS) and past General Secretary (2000-2005). As Head of the First Jordanian Osteoporosis Record (2005), Dr. Masri has participated in many epidemiological studies in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis as well as in pharmacological trials. He is an organizer and speaker for many symposia and meetings on osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other connective tissue diseases in Jordan and the Middle Eastern Arab countries.
Paul D. Miller, USA
Paul D. Miller, MD, is Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. In addition, Dr. Miller is the Medical Director of the Colorado Center for Bone Research in Lakewood, Colorado. After Dr. Miller received his medical degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, he became an intern in medicine and chief medical resident at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York. Subsequently, he completed a clinical fellowship and research fellowship in the Division of Renal Diseases at the University of Colorado Medical Center. Treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women has been the focus of Dr. Miller’s research. He is now Principal Investigator of a number of clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of various therapies now used or considered for use in these patients, such as alendronate, ibandronate, risedronate, and zoledronic acid, parathyroid hormone, and, renal bone disease. Based on his research, Dr. Miller has authored or coauthored more than 180 publications, including original articles, chapters, and books. He has contributed his work to the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Osteoporosis International, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. Notably, Dr. Miller is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Densitometry and is on the editorial boards of Osteoporosis International, Calcified Tissue Research, The Journal of Women’s Health, and the National Osteoporosis Foundation’s Clinical Newsletter.
A Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Miller is a member of numerous professional organizations. He was a Founder of the Metabolic Bone Disease Society of Colorado in 1980 and is its current President, and also the Founding President of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry. Dr. Miller has served on The National Osteoporosis Foundation’s Interspecialty Council (NOF); the Professional Practice Committee of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and is on the Board of Directors of The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF).
Dr. Miller has received numerous awards for his professional contributions including an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa; The Lasker Award from The Colorado Chapter of The American College of Physicians, and Outstanding Teacher, Publication(s) and Researcher of The Year Awards from the UCHSC; and The Outstanding Volunteer Faculty Award from Denver Health and Hospitals. Most recently Dr. Miller was awarded the Career Achievement Award (2005) and The Distinguished Clinical Professor promotion (2006) by The Department of Medicine of UCHSC.
Hajime Orimo, Japan
Prof. Hajime Orimo M.D., Ph.D. is a geriatrician and endocrinologist educated in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo. He is currently President and Professor of Health Science at the University of Japan, President of the Japan Osteoporosis Foundation and President of the Japan Anti-Aging Foundation.
Prof. Orimo is also a member of the Science Council of Japan. He has authored more than 1,500 publications on bone and mineral metabolism and geriatric medicine and served as editor or on the editorial board of several scientific journals.
Socrates Papapoulos, the Netherlands
Socrates Papapoulos is Professor of Medicine, Consultant Physician and Director of Bone and Mineral Research at the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases of the Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands. He 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. Since 1974 he has been continuously engaged in basic and clinical research in disorders of calcium and bone metabolism with special emphasis on the basic and clinical pharmacology of the bisphosphonates particularly in osteoporosis. More recently a main focus of his research has been the pathophysiology of conditions characterized by high bone mass.
A former President of the Dutch Society for Calcium and Bone Metabolism, he has served on numerous boards and committees including the Board and the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Foundation of Osteoporosis and of the International Osteoporosis Foundation, the Board of Directors of the International Bone and Mineral Society, the European Union committee for the prevention of osteoporosis and a WHO task force for the development of a world wide strategy for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
Dr Papapoulos is recipient of several awards and distinctions, he has served, among other, on the editorial boards of Bone and Mineral, Bone and Osteoporosis International and he has more than 300 publications.
Jean-Yves Reginster, Belgium
Professor Reginster is currently Professor of Epidemiology, Public Health and Health Economics at the University of Liège, Belgium. He is also President of the Dept. of Public Health Sciences and Director of the Bone and Cartilage Research Unit at the University of Liege. He is an active researcher who has authored more than 500 publications, mainly dedicated to pathophysiology of osteo-arthritis, epidemiology of osteoporosis and arthritis, health economics, clinical management of osteoporosis and osteo-arthritis. Among his other professional activities, Professor Reginster is General Secretary of the Belgium Bone Club, President of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) and President of the Group for the Respect of Ethics and Excellence in Sciences (GREES).
Gregorio Riera-Espinoza, Venezuela
Gregorio Riera-Espinoza is Director of UNILIME-UC, Clinical Research Center for Osteoporosis and Mineral Metabolism and Titular Professor of Medicine at the Universidad de Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela. Dr. Riera obtained his medical degree and specialization in internal medicine at the University of Carabobo. He consequently specialized in clinical nephrology at the University of Chicago, Pritzer School of Medicine, Chicago, USA and in mineral metabolism at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain. Dr. Riera is actively involved in Latin American research projects such as epidemiology of osteoporosis including, incidence and costs of hip fractures, prevalence of vertebral fractures (LAVOS). Other subjects of interest are Vitamin D deficiency in different clinical situations, bone turnover, male osteoporosis and clinical trials of osteoporosis treatment. He is a Board member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation and Scientific Coordinator of the Latin American IOF Advance Training Course in Osteoporosis. He is the Director of training programs such as the Postgraduate Course (2 year program) in Mineral Metabolism at the University of Carabobo. He is Past President of the Board of the Venezuelan Society of Menopause and Osteoporosis.
René Rizzoli, Switzerland
Treasurer and Vice Chairman of the Committee of Scientific Advisors
Prof. René Rizzoli is an internist and endocrinologist, with a subspecialty focus on metabolic bone diseases, osteoporosis and disorders of mineral metabolism. He is professor of medicine at the university hospitals of Geneva, and head of the service of bone diseases at the Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, of which he is also the chairman. Prof. Rizzoli chaired the IOF Committee of Scientific advisors for eight years during which he also chaired the Scientific Program Committee of the IOF World Congress on Osteoporosis. He is a former president of the Swiss Association Against Osteoporosis. He is presently member of the IOF Executive Committee, and also chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis. Prof. Rizzoli is involved in both basic and clinical research projects investigating hormone action, calcium, bisphosphonates, selective estrogen modulators and strontium ranelate in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. He is the author of more than 550 publications and is editor of Bone and associate editor of Osteoporosis International.
Ego Seeman, Australia
Ego Seeman is Professor of Medicine and Endocrinologist at the Austin Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. He is Past President Australian and New Zealand Bone Mineral Society, Board member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation, International Bone Mineral Society and Osteoporosis Australia. Professor Seeman has been instrumental in organising many conferences in Australia and Asia and has actively promoted educational exchange in the region through scientific meetings. Among other major meetings, he has convened the third IOF Regional Conference on Osteoporosis in Asia and the University of Melbourne Training Course in Osteoporosis for the past 10 years.
He is the author of some 270 publications and 22 book chapters, and is editor of Progress in Osteoporosis, Clinical Editor of Bone-Key and Associate Editor Osteoporosis International. He is an Editorial Board member of many other journals in the bone field and has contributed invited editorials and reviews to leading medical journals. Professor Seeman has contributed to studies of the definition, epidemiology, pathogenesis and treatment of osteoporosis in women, men, corticosteroid related disease, genetics, studies of skeletal growth, racial differences in skeletal structure, role of exercise, and risk factors for osteoporosis, as well as studies of structural diversity in determining bone strength
Prof. Seeman was awarded the 2002 American Society of Bone Mineral Research Fred C. Bartter Award.
Ethel S. Siris, USA
Ethel S. Siris, MD, is the Madeline C. Stabile Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, and the Director of the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center of the Columbia University Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, all in New York, New York. She is a graduate of Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and received her medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. An endocrinologist, she works as a clinician providing patient care, as a clinical investigator with an active research program and as a medical educator, all in the area of metabolic bone diseases, including osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone. In her career she has worked extensively with the class of bisphosphonate compounds in these disorders as well as with selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS) in osteoporosis. Dr. Siris is the Medical Director of NORA, the National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment, a public health initiative and longitudinal study of osteoporosis that includes over 200,000 postmenopausal women in the US. Most recently her research activity has focused both on risk factors for osteoporosis and treatment compliance with osteoporosis medications. Dr. Siris is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Osteoporosis Foundation. She is also President of the National Osteoporosis Foundation in the US, where one of her responsibilities is leading the effort for the implementation of the US application of the new WHO 10 year fracture probability algorithm. She is a member and former vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Paget Foundation for Paget’s Disease of Bone and Related Disorders. She has previously served on the Council of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and on the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the US Food and Drug Administration. She has published extensively in the medical literature, is co-editor of the book, The Bone and Mineral Manual, and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
José Zanchetta, Argentina
Dr. Zanchetta, is Chief Executive Officer of the Metabolic Research Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is Full Professor of Osteology at USAL University in Buenos Aires and Director of the Osteology and Mineral Metabolism Magister at the same University. He has more than 30 years of professional experience in the field of metabolic diseases and more than 15 years of experience as a Principal Investigator in clinical trials on different drug developments. He has given more than 150 postgraduate courses focusing mainly on Metabolic Bone Diseases and Renal Lithiasis. He is an author of 387 papers and 624 scientific communications in different local and international publications.
Dr. Zanchetta was the Founder and First President of the Argentine Osteoporosis Society (Sociedad Argentina de Osteoporosis). He has been Member of the Board of Governance of the International Osteoporosis Foundation since 1999 and the Legal Representative for the IOF Latin America Office since February 2006.
Dr. Zanchetta graduated with Honours from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Medicine in 1974.
Louisa Zhang, Singapore
Chair of the CNS
Louisa Zhang is a nutritionist with a Masters Degree from the University of London and is Secretary of the Osteoporosis Society (Singapore). Ms. Zhang was the driving force behind the initiation of the osteoporosis patient movement in Singapore, setting up an information help line (in 1994) and co-founding the osteoporosis society in 1996. Louisa has co authored many books on Health and Nutrition with several doctors including 101 Questions and Answers on Osteoporosis.
