Vitamin D & Chronic Disease Risk
Causes, Consequences & Clinical Recommendations
Speaker Biography
Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics
Director of the General Clinical Research Center
Director of the Bone Health Care Clinic and
the Heliotherapy, Light, and Skin Research Center
Boston University Medical Center
After earning a postgraduate degree in biochemistry, a medical degree, and completing a research postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Dr. Holick completed a residency in medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Holick has made numerous contributions to the field of the biochemistry, physiology, metabolism, and photobiology of vitamin D for human nutrition. He determined the mechanism for how vitamin D is synthesized in the skin, demonstrated the effects of aging, obesity, latitude, seasonal change, sunscreen use, skin pigmentation, and clothing on this vital cutaneous process. Dr. Holick has established global recommendations advising sunlight exposure as an integral source of vitamin D. He has helped increase awareness in the pediatric and medical community regarding vitamin D deficiency in the US population, and its role in causing metabolic bone disease, and osteoporosis in adults.
Dr. Holick’s laboratory recognized the important role that parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP) played in regulating skin and hair cell growth. He recently completed a study demonstrating the topical application of PTH (1-34) is safe and efficient for treating psoriasis. These observations offer a novel approach for developing new dermaceuticals for treating skin and hair growth disorders.
Dr. Holick is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Association of Physicians. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the American Skin Association’s Psoriasis Research Achievement Award, the American College of Nutrition award, the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award in Clinical Nutrition from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and most recently, the Annual General Clinical Research Centers’ Program Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. Dr. Holick serves on a number national committees and editorial boards and has organized and/or co-chaired several international symposia. He has authored more than 260 peer-reviewed publications, and written more than 200 review articles, as well as numerous book chapters. He has acted as editor and/or co-editor on 8 books, and has written a book entitled The UV Advantage, published by ibooks, New York..
