Beate Klara Maria Lanske

Dr. Beate Klara Maria Lanske

Lecturer on Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity, Part-time
Dr. Beate Lanske

Dr. Beate Lanske was born and raised in Salzburg, Austria, where she received her PhD in biology from the Faculty of Natural Sciences. After completing her graduate work at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Endocrinology in Hannover, Germany, and at the Helmholtz Centre in Munich in 1991, Dr. Lanske was awarded a scholarship from the Max-Kade Foundation to work as a postdoctoral fellow in the Endocrine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Harvard Medical School in Boston. During that time, her work focused on the generation and characterization of knock-out mice for the parathyroid hormone (PTH)/parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) receptor. In a collaborative effort with the laboratory of Dr. Cliff Tabin at HMS, Dr. Lanske’s research led to the important discovery of the negative feedback loop between the Indian hedgehog gene and PTHrP. This discovery launched the critical understanding of the regulation of chondrocyte differentiation in the growth plate, and provided useful information that helped to identify various forms of chondrodysplasia in humans (Jansen’s methaphyseal chondrodysplasia and Bloomstrand’s Chondrodysplasia).

In 1998, Dr. Lanske was recruited as an independent group leader at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. There she investigated the biology of a newly discovered phosphate-regulating hormone, fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23). In 2002 she moved back to Boston as associate professor of developmental biology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She has established a strong group of investigators studying the role of Indian hedgehog during endochondral bone formation and the pathophysiological role of FGF-23 using genetically altered mouse models.

Dr. Lanske has received many honors and awards during her academic career, including the Von-Recklinghausen Prize of the German Society for Endocrinology, the Young Investigator Award of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), and the Czitober Research Prize for Bone and Mineral Metabolism of the Austrian Society for Bone and Mineral Research. Many of her postdoctoral fellows have received the Young Investigator Award of the ASBMR, John Haddad Young Investigator Award of AIMM, Harold Frost Young Investigator Award of the ASBMR, Howard Hughes fellowships, and various travel awards. Dr. Lanske is dedicated to improving the research experience for predoctoral DMD students at HSDM, and serves on many curriculum and education committees.

Dr. Lanske is a member of numerous societies, such as the Endocrine Society, IBMS, Matrix Biology, ECTS, NY Academy of Sciences, and ASBMR. She is also on the editorial board of Bone and International Journal of Oral Sciences. She has published more than 85 papers and has lectured worldwide, giving speeches at international conferences in Brazil, China, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Canada.

Fields of Interest

Dr. Lanske has made major contributions in the field of bone research, with special interests in chondrocyte differentiation and postnatal bone growth. In addition, she has pioneered the work on the complex interactions between FGF-23, KLOTHO, PTH and vitamin D. Visit the Lanske Lab for details of this research.

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