Michael Holick

Michael F. Holick is a leading expert in the field of vitamin D research who discovered the major circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, which is routinely measured by physicians to determine vitamin d status, in 1972 as a graduate student^[1] and the active form of vitamin D, 1-,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, in 1971^[2] as well as other metabolites including 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3,^[3] 1,24,25-trihydroxyvitamin D3^[4] and 25,26-dihydroxyvitamin D3.^[5] As a fellow he participated in the first chemical synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3^[6] and 1α-hydroxyvitamin D3^[7] that was used for the first time to treat renal osteodystrophy,^[8] hypoparathyroidism,^[9][10] vitamin D dependent rickets^[11] and osteoporosis.^[12] Furthermore he elucidated the pathophysiology of Hereditary Vitamin D-dependent Rickets which involves defective vitamin d metabolism^[13] and the pathophysiological mechanisms of X-linked Hypophosphatemic Rickets.^[14]

He helped develop the first clinical assays for 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D,^[15] determined how vitamin D3 is made in the skin from sun exposure^[16] and established how season,^[17] time of day,^[18] skin pigmentation,^[19] sunscreen use,^[20] and latitude^[21] influenced this vital cutaneous process. He established that the skin was not only the organ responsible for making vitamin D3^[22] but was also a target tissue for its active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.^[23] He determined the extremely inhibitory effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on keratinocyte proliferation and the promoting effects on differentiation^[24] and translated these seminal observations by demonstrating that the topical application of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and several of its analogs were safe and effective for the treatment of psoriasis.^[25] He demonstrated that macrophages^[26] and prostate cells^[27] have the enzymatic machinery to produce 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and established that the extrarenal production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 may play a crucial role not only in cancer prevention but also in regulating the immune system.^[28]

He is an endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics and Director of the Bone Health Care Clinic and the Heliotherapy, Light, and Skin Research Center at Boston University Medical Center.^[29] He has been making numerous contributions to the field of the biochemistry, physiology, metabolism, and photobiology of vitamin D and is author of more than 400 publications about vitamin D ^[30] including

• Holick, MF (2007). "Vitamin D deficiency". The New England Journal of Medicine 357 (3): 266–81. doi:10.1056/NEJMra070553. PMID 17634462. 

He wrote several books about this topic^[31] and is member of many endocrinological and nutritional committees. He was awarded for his outstanding contributions to the field of vitamin D research with many prizes,^[32] including the Merit Award from the National Institute of Health, the first ASBMR Fuller Albright Award, the Robert H. Herman Award from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, ACN Award from the American College of Nutrition, the NIH’s General Clinical Research Center's Program Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, Psoriasis Research Achievement Award from the American Skin Association,^[33] the Van Slyke Award from American Association for Clinical Chemistry,^[34] the Linus Pauling Prize In Human Nutrition^[35] and the Delbert A Fisher Research Scholar Award from the Endocrine Society.^[36]

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