Dr. Lawrence Gideon Raisz, 84, a long-serving leader in the Health Center community and a national and international expert in the field of bone health, died of stomach cancer on Aug. 25 at his home in Farmington.
Raisz was one of the preeminent experts on the management of osteoporosis and metabolic diseases in the world. He was the founder of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, its second president, and the founding editor of its journal, the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. In addition, he was scientific editor of the landmark Surgeon General’s Report on Bone and Mineral Research.
As chair of the National Osteoporosis Foundation Education Committee from 1986 to 1999, he and his committee members worked hard to increase the awareness of osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases among physicians and the lay public. Subsequently, he was appointed as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
At the Health Center, Raisz was the first program director of the Lowell P. Weicker Jr. General Clinical Research Center, as well as the first director of the Musculoskeletal Institute. He served as the director of the UConn Center for Osteoporosis since its inception in 1990.
“It is almost impossible to articulate all of Dr. Raisz’s many contributions to the Health Center,” says Dr. Cato Laurencin, vice president for health affairs and medical school dean. “His academic and research accomplishments spanned the globe, and here in Farmington he was an endless source of inspiration to many. He will be deeply missed.”
Raisz was born in 1925 in New York City, and grew up in Cambridge, Mass. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and did postgraduate training at the Boston City and Boston VA Hospitals. He held faculty positions at New York University, Boston University, the State University of New York at Syracuse, and the University of Rochester, prior to joining the Health Center.
He received many awards over the course of his career, including the UConn Board of Directors Faculty Recognition Award in 2003 and the UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Award in 2004. Earlier this year, the Health Center honored Dr. Raisz and his career, during the inaugural White Coat Gala.
He served on the editorial boards of 11 journals, and was the author of more than 450 publications, largely in the field of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.
“In our lifetime we were lucky to have known him – he was a person who really lived life, he was a humanitarian, a researcher, and exuded kindness,” says Anne Horbatuck, administrator and chief operating officer of the New England Musculoskeletal Institute. “He communicated to all, was brilliant, giving, and down to earth. It was a privilege and honor to have known him.”
