Affiliation: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Medicine & Vanderbilt University, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

Dr. Rendina-Ruedy’s unique training and research experience are deeply rooted in the basic science of bone biology with an emphasis on nutritional biochemistry. The Rendina-Ruedy Lab is focused on developing a comprehensive understanding of how metabolic pathways impact bone health. Bone is an incredibly dynamic tissue that undergoes continuous remodeling involving bone-resorbing osteoclasts, bone-forming osteoblasts, and mechano-sensing osteocytes. Due to the high energetic demands of this process targeting metabolic pathways in bone cells is an incredibly provocative tool that can be applied to combat various conditions that lead to increased fracture incidence (i.e., post-menopausal osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and age-related osteoporosis). As such, the Rendina-Ruedy lab has ongoing projects aimed at understanding how bone cells, and cells within the bone marrow niche, store, mobilize, and utilize various metabolic substrates.  In addition to understanding how these metabolic pathways impact bone health in a cell-autonomous manner, our lab is particularly interested in how alterations in bone cell bioenergetics modulate whole-body metabolism.