Gerard Gerard Karsenty, M.D., Ph.D.

Gérard Karsenty, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the Department of Genetics and Development at Columbia University Medical Center. Karsenty’s laboratory identified the master genes of bone formation and parathyroid gland development, and was the first to demonstrate the existence of a central control of bone mass, to uncover its road map, and to establish that bone is an endocrine organ. He showed that the bone-derived hormone osteocalcin is necessary, in mice and in humans, for glucose homeostasis, male fertility, and cognitive functions. Karsenty was awarded his Ph.D. and M.D. degrees at the Medical School of the University of Paris V. He is a member of the editorial board of Cell Metabolism, Genes and Development and the Journal of Cell Biology.