Steven L. Teitelbaum, MD, a nationally recognized leader in bone biology research at WashU Medicine, died Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in St. Louis after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage. He was 87.
Teitelbaum was the Wilma and Roswell Messing Professor of Pathology & Immunology and professor of medicine in the WashU Medicine Division of Bone & Mineral Diseases. A highly accomplished and respected physician-scientist, he studied the balance between the cells that build up bone — the osteoblasts — and those that break it down — the osteoclasts. In particular, he studied what happens when osteoclasts are the more active of the two, leading to the development of therapies for bone-related conditions such as osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.