It is my pleasure to announce that Thomas Nickolas, MD, MS will be appointed as the next Chief of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. After a national search with outstanding candidates, Dr. Nickolas, currently Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in NY, was chosen to succeed Dr. Roberto Civitelli in leading this distinguished Division.
Dr. Nickolas is a nationally recognized nephrologist with expertise in bone and mineral metabolism. He is an outstanding clinician, clinical/translational investigator and epidemiologist. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Nickolas holds a Masters Degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He completed his medicine residency at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Nephrology Fellowship at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Dr. Nickolas was director of the Columbia University nephrology fellowship training program from 2014-2019. He served on the program committees for the Chronic Kidney Disease – Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD) sections for the national meetings of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). In 2025 and 2027 he will serve as the co-vice chair and co-chair, respectively, of the Gordon Research Conferences on Phosphate metabolism. He was a committee member of the Bone Disease section for the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Conference on CKD-MBD and was Co-Chair of the Bone Disease section for the 2023 KDIGO Conference on CKD-MBD. He is a member of the Committee of Scientific Advisors for the International Osteoporosis Foundation and is a standing member of the NIH/NIDDK DDK-D study section. He has served on the editorial boards for the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Bone and Bone Reports, Osteoporosis International, the Clinical Journal of the ASN, and the Journal of the ASN. He is co-editor of the CKD-MBD section for Current Osteoporosis Reports and is section editor for the ASBMR Primer chapters on bone diseases in patients with CKD. He is the 2024 recipient of the ASN Jack Coburn Endowed Lectureship on Bone and Mineral Disorders in CKD.
Dr. Nickolas’ research focuses on the skeletal effects of kidney diseases, in both adults and children. He is particularly interested in identifying mechanisms by which the kidney affects skeletal structure and function in order to develop novel strategies to treat metabolic bone disease, prevent fractures, and improve overall bone health. His research team uses traditional and novel methods to phenotype bone disorders in patients with CKD, including dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), high-resolution in-vivo bone imaging, bone biopsy, bone cell culture, and transcriptomics. He leads cutting-edge clinical trials testing the efficacy of new approaches to protect the skeleton from the impact of kidney diseases. Although his primary interest has been on bone disease in patients with CKD, he also has expertise in the skeletal effects of other acute and chronic illnesses, including HIV, diabetes, the adverse impacts of bisphosphonates on bone health, and advancing therapeutics for hypoparathyroidism.
Dr. Nickolas has expertise in metabolic bone disease, chronic kidney disease, medical education, epidemiology, and clinical trials. He is an active clinician, clinical/translational investigator, and teacher. He will be joining the Division of Bone and Mineral Disease in January, 2025.
I would also like to thank Dr. Roberto Civitelli, who is an outstanding bone specialist, physician-scientist and clinician. He has led this division for the last 14 years. Dr. Civitelli is a Professor of Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery, and Cell Biology and Physiology. He serves as the Director of the NIH T32 funded Skeletal Disorders Training Program, now in its 13th year. Dr. Civitelli has received numerous honors and awards including election to ASCI and AAP, the Fuller Albright Award, and the Gideon A. Rodan Excellence in Mentorship Award from the ASBMR. Dr. Civitelli served as President of the ASBMR and is the former editor in chief of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Under Dr. Civitelli’s leadership, the division has grown its clinical programs, expanded its clinical and research faculty, established the institutional Skeletal Disorders Training Program and a new Metabolic Bone Disorders fellowship, and expanded innovative research in skeletal biology. We have been very fortunate to have Dr. Civitelli lead the division and are grateful he will be remaining with us as a tenured faculty member to focus on his own research and on patient care.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Civitelli on his many years of distinguished leadership as Division Chief and in welcoming Dr. Thomas Nickolas as the new Division Chief of Bone and Mineral Diseases here at Washington University School of Medicine.