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Public Profile

Meryl S. LeBoff, MD
Meryl S. LeBoff, MD

    Meryl LeBoff, MD is Chief of the Calcium and Bone Section and Director of the Skeletal Health and Osteoporosis Center and Bone Density Unit, a multifaceted program that includes research, educational initiatives, clinical care, and bone densitometry which she founded in 1987. As an endocrinologist, Dr. LeBoff specializes in osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, focusing on causes of secondary osteoporoses and skeletal health across the life span, from young adulthood to extreme old age.

    Dr. LeBoff's extensive research topics include risk factors for osteoporosis (including low vitamin D levels, breast cancer treatments, hormonal modifiers on bone, and medical disorders or therapies that lead to low bone mass); approaches to imaging bone structure; vitamin D metabolism and mechanisms that lead to osteoblast generation in human marrow stromal cells; and clinical approaches to potentially speed up fracture healing. She is the principal investigator on the NIH-sponsored, "Vitamin D and Omega-3 Fatty Acid (VITAL) Trial: Effects on Fractures", which is evaluating the effects of high dose vitamin D and/or omega-3 fatty acids on fracture outcomes among more than 25,000 adults enrolled in the large VITAL parent trial.

    Dr. LeBoff contributes to national and international committees and task forces to systematically improve fracture care. She was an elected Councilor to the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and served on the ASBMR Women in Bone and Mineral Research Committee and Professional Practice Committee. She represented the ASBMR on the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons evidenced-based review of hip fracture care and worked on strategies to reduce the burden of fractures for the ASBMR's International "Systems Approaches to Osteoporotic Fracture Secondary Prevention". From evidence of a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in women admitted to Brigham and Women's Hospital with hip fractures, she has worked to advance the care of hip fracture patients with implementation of an inter-disciplinary fracture pathway with members of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in what is now called the Brigham Fracture Intervention Team initiatives or "B-FIT®". Dr. LeBoff is co-editor of The Female Athlete Triad: A Clinical Guide. She was a contributing author on the relation of vitamin D and bone for the Surgeon General's Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis 2004. She is a trustee for the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) and a contributing author to the 2013 NOF Clinician's Guide. She also served on the NIH's central Calcium, Vitamin D and Osteoporosis Committee for the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) since its inception and is a contributing author on ancillary studies and writing proposals.

    She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Mary Horrigan Connors Award for Outstanding Leadership in Women's Health, and placed in the Honor Roll of top 1% doctors in U.S. News and World Report. From 1996 to 2014, she was selected by her peers as "Best Doctors in America".

    Investigative Interests: Primary and Secondary Osteoporosis, Vitamin D, Bone Imaging, Fracture Outcomes, Nutrition and Bone.

    Schedule29 Mar 2024