News Release

July 12, 2005

Contact: Carolyn Pennington, 860-679-4864
e-mail: cpennington@uchc.edu

Lawrence G. Raisz, M.D., Named Director of Musculoskeletal Institute

FARMINGTON, CONN. – Internationally renowned bone biology researcher and physician Lawrence Raisz, M.D., has been named Director of the Musculoskeletal Institute at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

Raisz, who has been serving as the interim director of the MSI, is the scientific editor of the Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis and is the author of over 400 publications on clinical and basic research on bone metabolism. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Osteoporosis Foundation and is on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

“I’m looking forward to developing a program that will become the foundation upon which we bring together our strengths in basic research and medical education to further enhance patient care at the Health Center,” said Dr. Raisz.

The Musculoskeletal Institute is one of four signature programs at the Health Center which actively link research and education services with clinical care. Other signature areas include the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center and Connecticut Health, a public health based initiative.

The MSI recently moved to the new, four story Medical Arts and Research Building on the Health Center campus and will provide the most advanced treatments for problems affecting bones, joints and connective tissue.

“It offers substantially more laboratory space to develop new understandings in musculoskeletal disorders like arthritis, osteoporosis and bone and joint disorders particularly when it relates to sports medicine,” explained Dr. Raisz.

Before joining the Health Center faculty in 1974, Dr. Raisz was head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Rochester. Raisz is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and received his clinical and research training at the Boston City Hospital, the Boston VA Hospital, New York University Medical School, Strangeways Research Laboratory in Cambridge, England, and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Raisz was the second president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the founding editor of the Journal on Bone and Mineral Research.

The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, John Dempsey Hospital, the UConn Medical Group and University Dentists. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. To learn more about the UConn Health Center, visit our website at www.uchc.edu.

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