Dr. Bilezikian accepting the Bartter Award

Dr. Bilezikian received his undergraduate training at Harvard College and his medical training at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. He completed four years of house staff training including the Chief Medical Residency of the Medical Service at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. Bilezikian trained in metabolic bone diseases and in endocrinology at the NIH where he served as a clinical associate in the Mineral Metabolism Branch under the tutelage of Dr. Gerald Aurbach. He is currently chief of the Division of Endocrinology and director of the Metabolic Bone Diseases Program at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. In addition, he is associate chair of the Department of Medicine and an associate director of the Partnership for Women’s Health at Columbia University.

Dr. Bilezikian’s major research interests are related to the clinical investigation of metabolic bone diseases, particularly osteoporosis and primary Hyperparathyroidism. His extended investigation of primary hyperparathyroidism that he has conducted with his colleague, Dr. Shonni Silverberg, is one of the longest and most fruitful clinical investigations funded by the NIH. He has made significant contributions to the field of osteoporosis research, including important findings on PTH secretory dynamics in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and understanding the pathogenesis of idiopathic osteoporosis in men.

“Dr. Bartter’s Legacy is the use of basic and clinical tools to conduct an in depth exploration of a clinical disorder that leads to improved understanding and treatment of that condition,” says Dr. Elizabeth Shane, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, who presented Dr. Bilezikian with his award. “John Bilezikian is one of our society’s finest examples of the Bartter legacy.”

The Partnership for Women’s Health at Columbia University is the first collaboration between academia and the private sector dedicated to advancing the study and practical use of the differences in the normal human physiology of men and women and how they experience disease. For more information, visit the Partnership’s website at http://partnership.hs.columbia.edu.