Jay R. Shapiro, M.D

Jay R. Shapiro, M.D, is Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD. Dr. Shapiro is Director of the Center for Space Medicine at the University. He serves as Team Lead for Bone for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. This organization, sponsored by NASA, is a consortium of research investigators at 12 universities and medical schools in the US. The Bone Team focuses on problems related to bone loss during spaceflight. Dr. Shapiro also serves as the Director of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Clinic at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD. Osteogenesis Imperfecta is an inherited disorder of skeletal tissue that is the result of mutations involving the type I collagen genes. Type I collagen is the main structural protein of bone, ligaments and tendons.

An endocrinologist with long standing interest in the medical aspects of bone disorders, Dr. Shapiro's current research involves the effects of weightlessness on cells in bone marrow that are responsible for bone formation. His current research also includes the study of mechanisms involved in bone loss during exposure to weightlessness and its prevention through the use of anti-resorptive medicines.

To contact Dr. Shapiro, e-mail [email protected].