Nickolas to lead Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases
Physician-scientist specializes in treating kidney disorders, studying how they affect bone health
Thomas Nickolas, MD, has been named the next director of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He comes to WashU Medicine from Columbia University and will begin his new role in January.
Thomas Nickolas, MD, a respected clinical nephrologist and researcher focused on kidney disease and bone health, has been named the next director of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He comes to WashU Medicine from Columbia University in New York and will begin his new role in January.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Dr. Nickolas to WashU Medicine,” said Victoria J. Fraser, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor of Medicine and head of the Department of Medicine. “He has a well-earned reputation as a creative and dedicated physician-scientist, and we are excited to have him further advance the division’s mission to combine research and exceptional patient care. His efforts to understand the links between kidney health and bone health have led to clinical trials for treatments that will improve the quality of life and overall health of people with kidney diseases.”
Nickolas investigates the effects of kidney function on skeletal health across the life span. He also has studied the impact of HIV and metabolic disorders such as diabetes on skeletal health. All of these contribute to bone impairments, in which the normal accumulation and retention of key minerals in the skeletal system are dysregulated, resulting in bone weakness, deformities and fractures.
Insights from his research have led his team to develop novel approaches to understand and treat bone disorders and prevent fractures in patients with kidney diseases.
A graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., Nickolas earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. He completed his residency at the University of Pennsylvania and his nephrology fellowship at Columbia University, a training program he went on to direct. He earned a master’s degree in biostatistics and epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Nickolas is an active leader in the American Society of Nephrology, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes Guidelines Group, the International Osteoporosis Foundation, and is co-organizing the 2025 and 2027 Gordon Research Conferences on Physiology, Biology and Pathology of Phosphate. His contributions to the field were recognized this year with the American Society of Nephrology’s Jack Coburn Endowed Lectureship on Bone and Mineral Disorders in chronic kidney disease.
“It is both humbling and an honor to assume the role of director of the bone and mineral diseases division,” said Nickolas. “This is a storied division that has made unprecedented contributions to the whole gamut of bone and mineral diseases. The expertise here, from epigenetics to endocrinology and beyond, makes WashU Medicine one of the most exciting and rewarding places in the country to work in bone and mineral disorders. I am excited for the future of this group and how it will continue to advance our shared mission of improving musculoskeletal health for all.”
Nickolas is stepping into a role held for the past 14 years by Roberto Civitelli, MD, the Sydney M. and Stella H. Shoenberg Professor of Medicine. During Civitelli’s tenure, the division has developed innovative training initiatives, such as the Skeletal Disorders Training Program and the Metabolic Bone Disorders fellowship, while also expanding its research footprint.
Civitelli will continue his work in the clinic and lab as a faculty member in the Department of Medicine and as a professor of orthopedic surgery and of cell biology & physiology.
