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 6/1/2026

    Reichrath J, Vogt TH, Holick MF, Friedrich M, Arend L, Aykanat S, Burckhardt B, Dethmers A, Felix-Fernandes T, Gevaerd C, Gravius A, Haddad S, Klitz C, Löw A, Miebach J, Reichrath J, Saternus R, Strack S, Vogt TH, Volkov L, Yousuf F, Yüksel D, Holick MF, Reichrath J, Vogt TH. ABSTRACTS OF THE JOINT INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIA "VITAMIN D IN PREVENTION AND THERAPY" AND "BIOLOGIC EFFECTS OF LIGHT". Anticancer Res. 2026 Jun; 46(6):3541-3575. PMID: 42203334.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/1/2026

    Holick MF, Shirvani A. Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphism-A D-Terminant for Vitamin D's Association With Risk for Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Apr 01; 9(4):e267315. PMID: 42024388.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/20/2026

    Slominski AT, Tuckey RC, Slominski RM, Holick MF, Jetten AM. On the role of cholesterol, vitamin D, lumisterol, and tachysterol signaling in psoriasis. J Invest Dermatol. 2026 Apr; 146(4):887-889. PMID: 41718524.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/17/2026

    Slominski AT, Kim TK, Janjetovic Z, Ravichandran S, Song Y, Podgorska E, Slominski RM, Ewendt F, Song Y, Szpotan J, Mobley AA, Schwartz CJ, Rallapalle V, Indra AK, Crossman DK, Fessler MB, Jetten AM, Holick MF, Tuckey RC. Metabolic activation of lumisterol to biologically active metabolites and their mechanism of action. Biochem Pharmacol. 2026 Apr; 246:117711. PMID: 41554413.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/31/2025

    Slominski AT, Slominski RM, Kamal M, Holick MF, Tuckey RC, Reiter RJ, Li W, Jetten AM. Is Vitamin D Signaling Regulated by and Does It Regulate Circadian Rhythms? FASEB J. 2025 Dec 31; 39(24):e71321. PMID: 41396154.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 664 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University
  • Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate 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

Websites

Education

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

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