Bone Abstracts

Biographical Details

Michael P Whyte is Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Genetics at the Washington University School of Medicine, a staff member of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and Medical-Scientific Director at the Center for Metabolic Bone Disease and Molecular Research, Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Dr Whyte earned his MD degree at Downstate College of Medicine, State University of New York, Brooklyn, New York and then had internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. After two years as Clinical Associate at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, he did his fellowship in the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases and joined the medical faculty of the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA.

Dr Whyte’s research interests include especially the cause, outcome, and treatment of heritable disorders of bone and mineral metabolism in children and adults. Included are genetic forms of rickets such as hypophosphatasia and X-linked hypophosphatemia, brittle bone diseases like osteogenesis imperfecta, conditions that cause dense bones such as osteopetrosis, and disorders of accelerated skeletal turnover including juvenile Paget’s disease. The Research Center at Shriners Hospital serves as a national and international resource for the diagnosis, treatment, and investigation of disorders of bone and mineral metabolism and skeletal dysplasias in children. Laboratory investigations include searches for the underlying mutated genes of new disorders. Phenotype/genotype correlations aim to better understand the pathogenesis of established conditions. Bone-targeted alkaline phosphatase replacement therapy is being evaluated for pediatric patients with hypophosphatasia. Dr. Whyte has authored or coauthored more than 300 scientific papers or book chapters concerning these disorders.