Nephrology · Metabolic Bone Disease
Michael Pazianas, MD
Nephrologist specializing in metabolic bone disease, with a particular focus on chronic kidney disease–mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) and osteoporosis.
Biography
Trained as a nephrologist
Dr. Pazianas began his career in nephrology, with research focused on CKD-MBD. That background put him in a unique position to extend his work to osteoporosis.
Read the full biographyPublications
More than 100 papers, reviews and book chapters on CKD-MBD and osteoporosis.
View publications → IILatest developments in the field
Recent findings on CKD-MBD, osteoporosis and parathyroid hormone (PTH) therapy.
Read more → IIIEducational Library
Original teaching material on CKD-MBD and osteoporosis, including lecture slides.
Open the library →Nephrologists are often reluctant to treat osteoporosis. Their focus is CKD-MBD, and many are uneasy prescribing osteoporosis drugs, particularly antiresorptives and, even more so, osteoanabolics such as PTH and its analogues. Bone specialists outside nephrology, in turn, often hesitate to treat osteoporosis in patients with CKD because of concerns about kidney function, drug safety and the complexity of CKD-related bone disorders.
The result is a treatment gap: patients with both CKD and osteoporosis are often undertreated or mismanaged. The two conditions are treated as separate entities, although their pathophysiology overlaps, particularly in calcium and phosphate metabolism. Bringing osteoporosis and CKD-MBD under the same umbrella encourages collaboration and a more holistic approach to bone health in patients with kidney disease.
The symposium was part of the 2025 World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO-IOF-ESCEO), held in Rome from April 10 to 13, 2025. Drs. Michael Pazianas and Paul Miller developed and coordinated the program and led its planning and delivery.