IV Post

San Diego, California - With a quick smile and bright eyes, she hardly looks old enough to be a “legend,” but that is exactly why Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, a Distinguished Professor and Chief, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, is being honored.

Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD

The National Osteoporosis Foundation is honoring Barrett-Connor at its second annual “Legends of Osteoporosis Lecture,” on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at The Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC.  She and co-honoree, B. Lawrence Riggs, MD, the Purvis and Roberta Tabor Professor of Medicine Emeritus at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, MN, will be recognized for their extraordinary contributions to the scientific body of knowledge about bone biology and osteoporosis. 

“Dr. Barrett-Connor has long been at the forefront of many areas, including osteoporosis,” said Theodore Ganiats, MD, professor and interim chair, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, “We here at UC San Diego have always held her in high esteem, especially given her world-wide reputation for excellence.  This honor is further evidence of her stellar career.  We are all very, very proud.”

Barrett-Connor’s research concerns healthy aging with a focus on gender differences and women’s health.  She is founder and director of the Rancho Bernardo Heart and Chronic Disease Study, begun in 1972, and funded by the National Institutes of Health. She has served as principal investigator of several multi-center clinical trials and is author of more than 800 publications. Barrett-Connor has served as president of several epidemiological societies, is a Master of the American College of Physicians of Medicine and a member of the Institute of Medicine. Her numerous awards include four MERIT awards from the NIH.

Established in 1984, the National Osteoporosis Foundation is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization solely dedicated to osteoporosis and bone health. Its mission is to prevent osteoporosis, to promote lifelong bone health, to help improve the lives of those affected by osteoporosis and related fractures, and to find a cure.