Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Holick has made numerous contributions to the field of the biochemistry, physiology, metabolism, and photobiology of vitamin D for human nutrition. Dr. Holick has established global recommendations advising sunlight exposure as an integral source of vitamin D. He has helped increase awareness in the pediatric and medical communities regarding vitamin D deficiency pandemic, and its role in causing not only metabolic bone disease, and osteoporosis in adults, but increasing risk of children and adults developing preeclampsia, common deadly cancers, schizophrenia, infectious diseases including TB and influenza, autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

Dr. Holick is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and a member of the American Association of Physicians. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the General Clinical Research Centers Program Award for Excellence in Clinical Research from NIH, American College of Nutrition’s Communication Media Award, Best Docs in America, the Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award from the Institute for Functional Medicine and the Linus Pauling Prize for Human Nutrition. Dr. Holick serves on a number of national committees and editorial boards and has organized and/or co-chaired several international symposia. He served as the chair for the Endocrine Society’s Practice Guidelines on Vitamin D. He has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, and written more than 200 review articles, as well as numerous book chapters. He has acted as editor and/or co-editor on 13 books, and has written The UV Advantage in 2004 and The Vitamin D Solution in 2010 and helped develop the dminder.info app.

Publications

  • Published 2/22/2025

    Nikooyeh B, Holick MF, Abdollahi Z, Rasekhi H, Amini M, Ghodsi D, Yari Z, Rabiei S, Kalayi A, Zahedirad M, Yazdani H, Rismanchi M, Neyestani TR. Effectiveness and Potential Toxicity of Bread Fortification With Vitamin D in General Population: A Predictive Modeling Study. J Nutr. 2025 Apr; 155(4):1268-1277. PMID: 39993476.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/19/2025

    Shirvani P, Shirvani A, Holick MF. Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Its Potential Molecular Interplay in Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: A Scoping Review Bridging Cellular Energetics and Genetic Pathways. Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2025 Feb 19; 47(2). PMID: 39996855.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/14/2025

    Shirvani A, Shirvani P, Jonah U, Moore BE, Holick MF. Suspected Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Complex Pathophysiology in Fatal Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: Insights from a Case Report and Post-Mortem Findings. Biomedicines. 2025 Feb 14; 13(2). PMID: 40002882.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/10/2025

    Holick MF. The Debatable Clinical Utility of the 2024 Vitamin D Guideline: Bridging the Gap Between Current Guidelines, Practical Clinical Recommendations, and Utilization of Emerging Evidence in Vitamin D Disease Prevention. Endocr Pract. 2025 Mar; 31(3):399-402. PMID: 39938796.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/22/2025

    Uçar N, Holick MF. Illuminating the Connection: Cutaneous Vitamin D3 Synthesis and Its Role in Skin Cancer Prevention. Nutrients. 2025 Jan 22; 17(3). PMID: 39940244.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
  • Director, General Clinical Research Unit
    Boston University Medical Campus
  • Director, Bone Health Care Clinic
    Boston Medical Center
  • Director of the Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Medicine
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Education

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, MD
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, MS
  • Seton Hall University, BS