Medical & Scientific Advisory Board

He has had a long-standing interest in the regulation of calcium and phosphate homeostasis as well as the mechanisms contributing to bone growth and turnover. He and his colleagues were the first to isolate cDNAs encoding the PTH/PTHrP receptor (PTHR1), which allowed the search for human disorders caused by mutations in this gene.

Instead, Dr. Jueppner's group identified several different, activating mutations in Jansen's metaphyseal chondrodysplasia (JMC), which is characterized by severe and crippling bone deformities, short-limbed dwarfism, and hypercalcemia.

Together with Dr. Gardella, Dr. Jueppner now explores in vitro and in vivo the role of inverse agonists at the PTHR1 for the treatment of growth plate and bone abnormalities observed in the currently available transgenic mouse JMC models.

HJUEPPNER@mgh.harvard.edu

Thomas Gardella, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Medicine and Biochemistry at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He conducts laboratory research within the MGH Endocrine Unit, of which he has been a member since 1988.

Dr. Gardella's research concerns the basic mechanisms by which peptide hormones interact with their cell-surface receptors, and specifically focuses on the parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor.

Dr. Salusky is a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Chief, Division Pediatric Nephrology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.

His current efforts are focused on studying the role of FGF23 in the pathogenesis of CKD-Mineral and Bone Disorder, with the aim of understanding the relationship between bone and FGF23 across the spectrum of CKD.

Dr. Minnie Vishwanath is a tenured Associate Professor and the Graduate Program Director in the Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry.

As a full-time faculty member, Dr. Vishwanath is actively engaged in teaching, clinical care, and research. Her primary research interests include the biomechanics of tooth movement and the management of impacted canines.

Alison Boyce, MD is a pediatric endocrinologist and Chief of the Metabolic Bone Disorders Unit in the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health.

She is a member of the steering committee for the International Society for Children's Bone Health, and serves as chief Medical Advisor to the Fibrous Dysplasia/McCune-Albright Syndrome Alliance.