Thomas L. Nickolas MD, MS

Dr. Thomas L. Nickolas is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Dr. Nickolas received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and in Nephrology at Columbia University. He has a master’s degree in biostatistics/epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

His primary interests are in the skeletal effects of kidney diseases across the life-course. The focus of his lab is to redefine our understanding of and our approach to bone disease in adults and children with kidney failure. His lab uses advanced and novel methods to phenotype bone disorders in patients with kidney failure and after kidney transplantation, including dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, high-resolution in vivo bone imaging, bone biopsy, bone cell culture, and transcriptomics. He conducts clinical trials to test the efficacy of therapeutic approaches to protect the skeleton from the effects of kidney disease. He is also involved in research on the skeletal effects of other systemic diseases, such as HIV and diabetes, and on the effects of bone therapies on the skeleton. He collaborates with colleagues in the United States, South America, Europe, and Australia.

Dr. Nickolas is a member of the Committee of Scientific Advisors for the International Osteoporosis Foundation and was co-chair of the bone disease section of the 2023 KDIGO Controversies Conference in CKD-MBD. His work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the industry.